Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 14, 2020

General Douglas MacArthur made a legendary “goodbye” speech in 1951 to a joint session of Congress where he famously opined, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” Speaking of joint sessions (sorry), one wonders what MacArthur might have said about old stoners, since one of the underlying tenets of Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is that the titular characters (played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) have in fact aged, though that trip through time has arguably not granted either of them much more wisdom in the process. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is an unashamed and unapologetic trip through time of another kind, though, as it intentionally revisits much of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, ostensibly without any rose colored glasses adorning the bloodshot eyes of Jay and Silent Bob, but with an unmistakable whiff of pretty heady nostalgia (and/or pot smoke) infusing the premises. This is a film that seems tailor made for a very specific fan base, and as such it probably won’t be a “must see” for the public at large. For those who grew fond of Jay and Silent Bob through either their previous “title” film, or their appearances as supporting characters in other Kevin Smith outings, though, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will probably provide enough entertainment to warrant a visit.

There are a number of maybe-maybe not intentional disconnects running throughout Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, and the first of them occurs almost immediately as a guy pulls up to a place called the Cock Smoker (putatively a fried chicken joint), evidently unaware that there is (as revealed by a whip pan) a rather large SWAT team already assembled there, poised to arrest Jay and Silent Bob for not so secretly running a marijuana grow operation. That of course lands the boys in court, where an unctuous attorney (Justin Long) first gets them off of that charge by positing they were simply doing “pop up promotion” for an upcoming film, but who then simply traipses over to the other side of the courtroom to enjoin the boys from ever using their names again, since, before he agreed to “defend” them, he had them sign away the rights to their names, something that Saban Films (named outright in this bit) deemed necessary for the studio's supposed upcoming big screen adaptation of Bluntman and Chronic, to be directed of course by Kevin Smith.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was released on Blu-ray kind of amazingly way back in 2006, and in 2008 my colleague Martin Liebman offered his thoughts about the film (and disc) in his Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Blu-ray review. In just one sign of how Jay and Silent Bob Reboot intentionally mines an “everything old is new, or at least re-old, again”, Marty’s opening couple of sentences from that review tend to work pretty darned well for this film as well:

In a rare case of complete originality in Hollywood today, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back tackles a mostly taboo issue in major motion picture film: the movie industry itself, not to mention just about everyone else and everything you could possibly imagine. This incredibly crude yet undeniably witty satire takes aim at actors, directors, writers, royalties, and the entire filmmaking process.

Of course, party of the parodying going on this time is with regard to “reboots”, which an almost Tarantino-esque scene featuring Jason Lee as Brodie Bruce, who fansplains (sorry again) the difference(s) between “reboots” and “remakes”. It’s just the first of several winking scenes (in this case, literally, as Brodie, Jay and Silent Bob all break the fourth wall to include the audience at one salient point) that take so-called “meta” qualities to patently silly extremes.

The film turns into something of a road trip when it turns out that Jay has a daughter by Justice (Shannon Elizabeth) named Millennium Falcon (Harley Quinn Smith). The boys have already decided to go to Chronic Con, where the “real life” Kevin Smith is recruiting prize winners who have been feted with a cameo in the supposed Bluntman and Chronic adaptation. Jay and Silent Bob are out to put the kibosh on the project, but it also turns out that Millennium and her girl gang want to attend for reasons of their own. (The fact that one of Millennium’s girl gang is a Muslim girl named Jihad may indicate as well as anything some of Smith’s more provocative comedy proclivities.)

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot does in fact skewer just about everything that has the temerity to wander into its path, and by default that means the very people who are probably most drawn toward watching it in the first place. Perhaps for that reason, the film really kicks into comedic high gear once it reaches its nerdy apex at Chronic Con, where Smith (as Smith and Silent Bob) take the story through what almost amounts to a vaudeville show structure, with the boys running from room to room and gag to gag. The film is stuffed to the gills with cameos itself, and part of the fun of this enterprise for more ardent fans may be the knowledge of how various actors and/or roles fit into the so called "View Askewniverse". But that very fact may point out that this is inarguably a creation made for a very certain type of fan, and that others may not be especially attuned to the gonzo antics that are fully on display throughout the film.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf seems at least slightly more positively inclined toward Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. You can read Brian's thoughts on the film here.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films ( and Saban Films, of course), with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Kind of surprisingly, I haven't been able to dredge up any real authoritative technical data on the shoot, but given the fact that this was evidently shot on a relatively small budget, I'm assuming things were digitally captured and finished at a 2K DI (if anyone has verifiable information, private message me, and I'll post an update to the review). A lot of the film, especially some of the kind of long sequences in cars, seem to have been greenscreened, and there's therefore a kind of soft, even impressionistic, look to some of the backgrounds flitting by. There are also some slightly curious focus pulling moments and even a couple of moments that look like they may have been shot with a malfunctioning lens, leading to a slightly refracted, prismatic appearance with regard to the "edges" of items (including humans). All of that said, this is generally a pleasing looking transfer with some nice detail levels, especially in some of the more brightly lit moments. The palette is nicely suffused throughout and looks natural, with the notable (and intentional) exception of some of the Chronic Con footage which is bathed in blue light, which can make things look a bit hazy.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that has moments of nice immersion, notably in some of the noisy and crowded environments of Chronic Con, but which tends to "retreat forward" to the front and center channels for a lot of the dialogue scenes. Silly musical interludes spread through the side and rear channels winningly enough, and the entire track boasts fine fidelity. I noticed no issues whatsoever with regard to dropouts, distortion or other damage.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cast Interviews (1080p; 58:47)


• Kevin & Jay Interview Cast and Crew (1080p; 29:44)


• Bloopers (1080p; 9:37)


• Hair Reel (1080p; 1:43) offers various moments of hair being dressed.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kevin Smith films in general can kind of be an acquired taste (Tusk, anyone? - and even Smith makes fun of that film in this one). I'd argue that the Jay and Silent Bob offerings are even more of a cult item within the larger "Askewniverse", and as such, this is a film made for a devoted but probably limited fan base. My hunch is that kind of fan will probably get at least some enjoyment out of this "reboot", even if some diehard aficionados may also find this kind of a hit and/or miss entry. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering purchase.