Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Man, Jay and Silent Bob are pissed. Some hateful sonsofbitches at Miramax have turned the Bluntman and Chronic comic, based on their own good selves, into some big movie and not only are they getting no money, but people are slagging them off on the internet. The only way to stop this is by going over to Hollywood and f***ing things up: picking up some hot diamond thieves, an orangutan, a multitude of willy jokes and the leadership of a mysterious terrorist organisation known only as the C.L.I.T. along the way.

This is a funny movie. Kevin Smith finally gave his two most famous characters their own movie: Jay (Smith's real-life best buddy Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), the two most famous stoners since Cheech and Chong. Seeing as Silent Bob never says anything apart from the occasional line of Star Wars-derived insouciant wit, Jason Mewes does admirably well in carrying the film - the whole thing could be his cussing rants about hos and bitches and you wouldn't complain. But the twosome are joined by such an array of former Kevin Smith starlets (Affleck, Damon, the should-be-famous-cos-he's-so-damn-good Jason Lee) and a multitude of cameos, from the guy from Dawson's Creek to Mark Hamil's thrilling performance as the evil Cock-Knocker, the nemesis of our heroes.

Out of all of Kevin Smith's movies this is the most penetrable by non-geekboy moviegoers. As always the dialogue is fantastically witty and full of so much pop culture it hurts, while slapstick and fart jokes are the order of the day. Pretty much all the major characters of Smith's previous films appear at some point: Affleck even plays his Holden character from Chasing Amy at the start and then plays himself as an snotty actor filming an ultra-violent sequel to Good Will Hunting at the film's close. It's irreverent, it's very very rude and you may well pick up a few new swear words to impress your friends. I implore you to see this movie. If only so that you can fully recognise the genius of a line such as "Mmm... what a lovely tea-party."

Will Porter