Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (R)
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Caution: spoilers

This is the fifth movie in the View Askewniverse, and the first one in which Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (writer/director Kevin Smith) are the main characters. It came out in 2001, but I didn't see it until 2022. This was intended to be the final film in the franchise, and there's even a post-credits scene with God (as previously seen in Dogma) literally closing the book on the View Askewniverse. But of course, by the time I watched it, the series had continued, after all. Well now, what can I say about this movie? I didn't like all the gay jokes, and there are a lot of them. I couldn't stand the way Jay talks to and about women. Although I will say that when called out on it, he seems to have been genuinely unaware that women wouldn't like, for example, being called bitches. (Unlike men who talk like that IRL, who are certainly aware and are intentionally disrespectful of women.) And he tried his best to come up with something else to call the woman he was talking to. Which isn't really saying much, and there's so much more about his behavior that never changes and is completely unacceptable and not really funny. But setting aside all the rampant homophobic and sexist humor, I'd still say there's plenty in the movie that is funny. So I managed to enjoy it at least a bit. Certainly I liked the meta-ness of it all.

Randal, from Clerks, takes out a restraining order against Jay and Silent Bob, so they can't hang out in front of the Quick Stop anymore. The two of them go to a comic store to complain about it to Brodie (Jason Lee), from Mallrats. From him, they learn that the comic book based on them, "Bluntman and Chronic" (from Chasing Amy) is being made into a movie, by Miramax. So they go see one of the writers of the comic, Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), hoping to get royalties. He introduces them to the internet, which they had never heard of, and they learn that lots of people are saying nasty things about them online. So instead of wanting money for their likenesses being used in the movie, they want to stop the movie from being made, in the hopes that people will stop talking trash about them (or their fictional counterparts). Which means they need to get from New Jersey to Hollywood.

Along the way, they get a ride from a group of women including Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), Sissy (Eliza Dushku), Chrissy (Ali Larter), and Missy (Smith's wife, Jennifer Schwalbach), who say they want to steal an animal from a testing lab. Jay and Silent Bob agree to help them, mostly because Jay is attracted to Justice, who seems to reciprocate his feelings. But the women were just using them as a distraction for their real intention, which was to steal diamonds. Jay and Silent Bob liberate an orangutan named Suzanne from the lab, and when they get back, the women are gone and their van blows up, leading the guys to believe the women died. Jay and Silent Bob go on the run with Suzanne, pursued by a Federal Wildlife Marshal named Willenholly (Will Ferrell).

Jay and Silent Bob have heard that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were being considered for the roles of Bluntman and Chronic, and they eventually find them, but it turns out they're actually making "Good Will Hunting 2". As they sneak around the Miramax lot looking for the other movie, they're pursued by a security guard (Diedrich Bader). They eventually find the actors who will actually be playing them, James Van Der Beek and Jason Biggs. Suzanne beats them up, and Jay and Silent Bob take their place on the set of the movie, which is being directed by Chaka Luther King (Chris Rock). Dressed as Bluntman and Chronic, Jay and Silent Bob must battle a supervillain called Cocknocker (Mark Hamill). They also meet up with another writer of the comic book, Banky Edwards (Jason Lee). And... more stuff happens. Really, I've left out a ton of details throughout the movie, and I'm not going to say anything about how it all ends.

Well, there are lots of cameos and minor roles by famous people throughout the movie, which I guess I won't spoil here. I did want to mention that at one point during the end credits, the movie suddenly paused and a bit later the credits resumed, but in French. I'm pretty sure that was just a glitch on my DVD, and not intentional, but I couldn't help thinking it would be kind of funny if it had been intentional. I already mentioned the post-credits scene. I will say I agree with the online troll who said, talking about the Bluntman and Chronic movie, that Jay and Silent Bob are better in small doses. Oh yeah, and it's also funny that Will Ferrell played Marshal Willenholly, considering he would later star in Land of the Lost. And I don't really know what else to say.