Clerks III (2022) - The ultimate in 'fan service'

There were few more film-makers in the 90s who influenced me more than Kevin Smith.  After all, he invented the 'shared universe' long before Marvel brought it to the big screen!  I was almost his one man publicity machine back then, getting as many of my friends into his world as I could.  However, slowly his films changed and I think the last one I actually enjoyed was 'Clerks 2' way back in 2006.  Now, when I think of Kevin Smith, I just see him crying over bad 'Star Wars' films on YouTube and the abomination of his 'He-Man' series on Netflix.  The when he rebooted his most famous characters 'Jay and Silent Bob' on the big screen I don't think I laughed once during its runtime.

What I'm saying is that my hopes were not high when I sat down to watch 'Clerks III.' I don't remember it even being released in the cinemas (but then that could have been something to do with the global pandemic).  So I finally decided to watch it on a streaming service.  And - eventually - I was glad I did.

I kind of starts off a bit on shaky ground.  We're back at the Quickstop shop and lifelong buddies Dante and Randal are embarking on yet another day in the life of an employee there.  I'm fine with regurgitating the setting, but the jokes seemed to take a while to get going and, when they did, I just felt they'd lost their realistic edge (I was on the brink of turning it off when a doctor in a hospital arrived to the ward wearing a Halloween witch's costume.  But I stuck with it.

And I was rewarded for doing so, as I ended up getting a film that wasn't just laugh out loud funny, but also quite heart felt in more than one place.  The story centres on the two main characters deciding to chronicle their lives on film, i.e. making a film of the first film (how meta!).  And that was great - for me.  But then I've seen - and loved - every film in the 'Viewaskewniverse' (with the exception of the Jay and Silent Bob reboot).  So I was well catered for, picking up on every sly wink and nod to camera and the relating back to past exploits and stories.

If this film truly has a 'downside' is that, if I pictured myself as watching it out of the blue with no knowledge regarding what has come before, I simply wouldn't have 'got' anything.  I wouldn't have a clue why the things that were happening were funny or tragic (or both).

So, basically, if you're a fan of Smith's early work then this is the ideal conclusion to the 'world' he's created.  However, if you have no idea of anything that's come before this I would probably recommend starting with the original 'Clerks' film - don't worry, it still holds up (and the sequel is pretty good, too). 

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that