Dragon’s Clerks III Review

Kevin Smith‘s latest trip to the View Askew Universe takes us back to where it all started almost 3 decades ago, in Clerks III.

Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson are back as Dante and Randle, and are right where we left them after Clerks 2 in 2006.  But, middle age has started to creep into our favorite clerks’ lives, as they rapidly approach 50.

Clerks 3 looks at what happens when Dante and Randal start to question their own mortality.

The Plot – Clerks III

Dante And Randal Are Getting Old

It’s been nearly 30 years since we first met Dante Hicks and Randal Graves in the original, black and white, Clerks.

Much has changed, and much hasn’t.  Dante and Randal still work at the Quick Stop, but now co-own the convenience store.

Our duo still play hockey on the roof; hang out all day, not-so-quietly judging their customers, and take every opportunity to argue about just about everything, with just about everybody.

Elias, played by Trevor Fehrman, first showed up in Clerks 2 when it came out 16 years ago.  Elias now works at the Quick Stop with and for Dante and Randal.  He’s still really into his religion, and even more into shoving his religion down others’ throats at every opportunity.

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The Heart Attack

Randal, never one to miss an opportunity to feel superior to others, starts a typical ‘Randal’ argument with Elias; about religion, about his logic, even about crypto currency.  And, quickly, it gets personal.

But, just when Randal thinks he’s won the argument, something doesn’t seem right.  A quick 911 call later, and Randal sits in the hospital with Dante, realizing he’s wasted his whole life talking about movies, when he could have been making movies.

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As Randal recovers, he writes his movie script, appropriately enough, about his life as a Clerk.  Surprised by Randal’s dedication, Dante seems even more surprised when Randal appoints Dante as his Producer — which really just means making Dante do all the hard work.

Needless to say, Dante feels put upon, yet again.  And starts to feel like he’s ‘not even supposed to be here today!’

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The Good – Clerks III

The Callbacks

I, Dragon Movie Guy, may be a Kevin Smith Superfan, but even I was shocked by the sheer volume of callbacks and references to other Kevin Smith movies in Clerks III.

Dante and Randal have steel trap minds; and share a righteous indignation for anything and anyone they consider hypocritical, or full of themselves.  As a result, the steady stream of references from both previous Clerks movies surprised even me.

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The ‘Chewlies’ gum salesman harassing Quick Stop customers, the girl who passed away whose funeral they closed the Quick Stop for in the middle of the day, and even the old man who complained about the 1-ply toilet paper in the Quick Stop restroom — all get brought back up, again.

The references from across the View Askew-niverse come fast and hard as Randal writes his screenplay for his auteur auto-biography movie-within-a-movie.   How meta!

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The Real Life Callbacks

For anyone who’s seen or read of Kevin Smith’s ‘Too Fat For 40’, the storyline for Clerks III feels all too real.  Some years ago, Kevin Smith had a heart attack in real life, and caused him to make tons of changes.

Randal’s heart attack in the beginning of this film, feels very similar to Smith’s real life heart attack — inspiring Randal to make a movie about his life as a Clerk, just like what Kevin Smith did almost 30 years ago.  How meta, indeed!

The heart attack isn’t just played for Comedy, like one might think.  The discussions between Dante and Randal feel real, as I think the discussions with Kevin Smith and his friends and family must have been after his heart attack.

These real life tie-ins to a film about guys who previously talked about Death Star worker litigation add extra impact because of the real life influence.

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The Bad – Clerks III

The Inconsistent Tone

Without going into spoilers, the tone and feel of the film goes much more dramatic and real during the second half of the film.

While one might expect some seriousness after the story involves a heart attack, the amount of seriousness and where it was placed felt a little off.

The seriousness of tone is logical, and not un-earned, but the application feels a bit inconsistent and off key with the rest of the film.  It’s not awful, but it does take away from the feel and flow of Clerks III.

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The Review – Clerks III

I saw the original Clerks in theaters way back in high school in 1994 (YES, I really went to high school in the 90’s; and YES, I really AM that old).  I also saw Clerks 2 in theaters when it came out in 2006.  And now, I’ve seen Clerks III in theaters in 2022.

The 1994 Clerks may have been in black and white, and the 2022 Clerks III may be digitally downloaded and projected, but both share more than just low cost filmmaking and distribution.

Clerks III is a true victory lap for Kevin Smith after recovering from his heart attack.  The View Askew references alone, kept even me racking my brain to keep up.

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I loved this movie, but even I was rushing home just to re-watch Clerks 2 before the Clerks III memories started to fade.

The biggest nitpick I have with this film is going from an Arabic number system for Clerks ‘2’, to a Roman numeral in Clerks ‘III’! C’mon, Silent Bob!!! Get consistent with the numbering system on your movies! Lol…

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The hard core Kevin Smith fans should love Clerks III. And, I think casual Kevin Smith fans can like it as well.  It would be harder for casual Kevin Smith fans or somebody who’s not familiar with Smith’s work to appreciate a film with so many callbacks.  But, I do think casual fans can still enjoy the film on their own merits.

Clerks III is showing in theaters for a VERY limited time, with Fathom Events through September 18.

Worth the time and money to watch in theaters, and even worth re-watching Clerks 2 to better understand all of the callbacks.

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