20 Years Ago, Kevin Smith Made His Last Great Film

Published Jul 20, 2026, 11:14 PM EDT Mitchell Brown is a Wisconsin-based writer, film fanatic, and graduate of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who has written for various publications covering film analysis, reviews (both classic and contemporary), and movie news. He's also a screenwriter, having written multiple spec scripts. When he's not watching movies, writing movies, or writing about the films he's already seen...no, that about covers it. Clerks II is a movie that, by all accounts, shouldn't work. It's a sequel to a 1994 cult classic that was made with almost no budget, had a production backstory that is almost as famous as the movie itself, and helped ring in the '90s indie film blitz. Clerks convinced a generation of movie fans that absolutely anybody can make a movie and have it be released theatrically. The idea of then creating a sequel was basically considered heresy up until the 2006 release of Clerks II, and some still might not see the justification for its existence now (one of the main stars couldn't even justify its existence then). However, much in the same way that Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse was a precursor to modern-day cinematic universes (and arguably the only one besides Marvel to do it successfully), Clerks II is one of the earliest legacy sequels. Yes, it might be post-Psycho II and The Color of Money, but it beat out Rocky Balboa by a couple of months, so it pre-dates the current wave that still continues to this day. It's also arguably one of the best sequels ever made, based on the way it aged the characters with the material, and showed the growth of the filmmaker. But it's also bittersweet, because it's the last truly great film in the series. The story takes place ten years after the original film, and still follows the daily exploits of Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson), who are now working at a Mooby's, following a fire at QuickStop. This time, they're joined by their manager, Becky (Rosario Dawson) and teenage coworker, Elias (Trevor Fehrman), with Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) still loitering around. The film chronicles Dante's last day at work before he moves to Florida with his fiancé, Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith), while Randal tries to deal with the impending reality of life without his best friend. 'Clerks II' Avoids the Traps of Most Legacy Sequels Image via The Weinstein Company While other View Askewniverse sequels like Jay and Silent Bob: Reboot and Clerks III had an overreliance on fan service, heavily playing up nostalgia, Clerks II is surprisingly self-sufficient and doesn't over-romanticize the importance of the original to the lives of the characters. The story mostly steers clear of direct references to the original Clerks and largely feels like a standalone sequel. It's not until the very end of the movie, when everyone's back at QuickStop, that there are callbacks to the first film — including classic moments like "You know what? You're not even supposed to be here today," Walt Flanagan returning as a customer to buy a pack of cigarettes, a sign that says, I assure you, we're re-open, and even a final visual gag of Kevin Smith's mom returning as the Milk Maid and going through gallons of milk. Because of the restraint that was shown throughout the rest of the movie, once it returns to black-and-white, and feels like the original Clerks again, that nostalgia feels earned in a way that most legacy sequels don't. Something that often hinders later entries in Smith's View Askewniverse is that characters haven't grown much since their original appearances. By the time we get to Reboot, Jay and Silent Bob in particular are almost the exact same characters as they were almost thirty years prior, and it feels off-putting (something Smith himself predicted at the end of the first An Evening with Kevin Smith). But in Clerks II, while the characters are in essentially the same place as they were in the first movie, they're approaching middle age, and it informs their actions. It's not played for laughs that Dante and Randal are in the same position as they were ten years prior, and not much has changed; in fact, that's the heart of the film and the source of the most dramatic moments, up to and including the jail cell argument between the two, which is up there among the best scenes Smith has ever done. Kevin Smith is Best When Backed Into a Corner When it comes to his View Askew movies, Smith has always thrived when he had something to prove. Clerks was him making a movie with his friends while putting himself in crippling debt to pay for it. In Chasing Amy, he was out to prove that Clerks wasn't a fluke after the failure of Mallrats. Dogma tackled heavy themes and had him facing controversy (and death threats) for making a comedy about religion. When he was complacent, he created films like Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back — which are great in their own right, but feel a bit less like Smith had something to say (a sentiment that was reflected in Holden's (Ben Affleck) artistic pursuit in Chasing Amy). Clerks II was made with a similar attitude. While it could've been a shameless cash grab that plays off audience goodwill with obvious callbacks to the original, it was instead Smith fighting to prove himself, since it came off the box office failure and tabloid infamy of Jersey Girl. Clerks II is the last true great View Askewniverse entry, and is a worthy follow-up to the movie that jump-started Kevin Smith's career. It demonstrated Smith's growth as a filmmaker and storyteller since his debut, and proved that Anderson and O'Halloran hadn't missed a beat in their performances and chemistry. The film was never going to be superior to the original. but in a world full of unnecessary sequels that can't justify their own existence, Clerks II isn't one of them. Clerks II Release Date July 21, 2006 Runtime 97 minutes Director Kevin Smith Producers Bob Weinstein, Carla Gardini, Harvey Weinstein