Rated: 18+

Written by: Kevin Smith

Directed by: Steve Stark

Let me start by saying Kevin Smith changed my life. It was Clerks and Mallrats that burned a hole in my DVD player in middle school. With that said, I’ve watched all of his films and followed his career over the years from his cult classics to commercial attempts to podcasts.

I saw “Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie” at a special screen in Los Angeles at the New Beverly Cinema. There was a question and answer with both Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes afterwards. So here is my review.

“Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie” is a funny romp and brought up a nostalgia for my childhood. It was simple, small intimate film about two beloved characters. While overall I enjoyed the film, the belly laughs and the updated take on these characters, it was easy to tell that this was Kevin Smith’s gift to Jason Mewes. While Kevin Smith wrote the film, Jason Mewes produced the film, taking it on the project with a small budget.

The film had a different vibe to it especially the humor. While the earlier Jay and Silent Bob films and cameos were dirty and raunchy, they had heart and a wittiness to the humor. Super Groovy Movie relied heavily on extremely dirty and over the top humor. The jokes and characters were more reminiscent of the “Bluntman and Chronic” film within “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”.

The story followed the main characters as they win the lottery and decide to become superheroes. They soon find their much needed enemies in the League of Shitters. Yes, that is what they are called. A group of over the top super villains that include the infamous Cock Knocker and a villain who’s head is literally a penis that jizzes on his enemies.

Don’t get me wrong, the film had me laughing, it was a simple story and obviously written to be cheap and effective relying on sight gags and humor to carry the audience. I have listened to a lot of Smodcast’s podcasts and while they are great, I feel they reveal a lack of growth on Kevin Smith’s part, a filmmaker who delivered such hilarious and ground breaking films as Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma. Kevin Smith was not only smartly hilarious but original and emotionally relevant.

While I commend Jason Mewes for his producing of the project and think it is a great achievement for him, it left me wishing Kevin Smith would return to his roots of indie-styled films that were not afraid of being ground breaking with content rather than jokes involving dildos. While dildo and weed humor is great, his earlier films were so much more than that. They reflected his views and challenged the viewer. I’ve enjoyed all of his films, even Jersey Girl, Cop Out and Zack and Miri especially, they were fun but had real characters. Super Groovy Movie seemed more of a podcast version of a film than anything else.

Please Kevin, return to the good old days, the days that inspired me, the days that helped me grow into whatever your dirty, raunch, hilarious, smart films made me. You’re still hilarious and great, let’s just hope Clerks III meets the challenge.