Clerks II
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: July 21, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatMark Bell
Ultimately, Smith finally achieves that perfect balance between humor and heart that he's been dancing towards with all his films. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
It mostly manages the impressive feat of mixing jaw-droppingly gross jokes with characters that are worth caring about. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Clerks II finds Smith up to the profane, raunchy, profoundly humanist mischief of which he alone is the master. This is a lewd, lascivious, exhilaratingly life-affirming celebration of misfits and the misfits who love them. Read full review
80
EmpireDorian Lynskey
Kevin Smith's most enjoyable film since, well, Clerks lacks much of its predecessor's outsider edge, but you'll probably be laughing too hard to care. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Clerks II will find Kevin Smith's detractors saying that the filmmaker simply regurgitates the past, while his loyal fan base will applaud his return to the tried and true. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
An agreeable mischievous romp. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This is a funny movie. It delivers plenty of laughs, but it isn't in the same league as "Clerks." I left that movie holding my stomach from laughing so hard. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Dawson turns out to be a necessary ingredient, propelling the emotional core of the film forward, while somehow convincing the audience that a smart, attractive woman could find a schlub like Dante desirable. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Yes, the characters in Clerks II hardly qualify as role models, but they can be blisteringly funny in an in-your-face, to-heck-with-taste way. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Despite the film's sloppy structure, it feels weirdly good to hang out with these losers again. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin Chang
A softer, flabbier and considerably higher-budgeted follow-up to Kevin Smith's 1994 indie sensation that nevertheless packs enough riotous exchanges and pungent sexual obscenities to make its 97 minutes pass by with ease. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
This is the umpteenth movie I’ve seen this year about guys in their 30s who aren't quite sure what they want to do with their lives, and it's the only one that strikes a real chord, because it's neither an exaltation nor a condemnation of slackerdom, but rather just a sweet little fable about how sometimes the life that you think could be so much better is actually pretty damn good already. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
What makes Clerks II both winning and (somewhat unexpectedly) moving is its fidelity to the original "Clerks" ethic of hanging out, talking trash and refusing all worldly ambition. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
It has enough laughs, character arcs, politically incorrect rants and a satisfying emotional ending to more than justify this whim on Smith's part. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Clerks II has its problems: It rambles into sentimentality, and it doesn't need to -- the movie is more affecting when the characters are just cracking jokes. But Smith, an inherent optimist, has made a movie full of crude humor that also manages to explore the enduring qualities of friendship. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
By this point, the rhythms of Smith's dialogue are as predictable and mannered as haikus, and like sitcoms, Clerks II is mostly appealing in its familiarity, from the rat-a-tat cussing to the cameos from Smith's repertory company to the extended riffing on "Star Wars" and geek culture. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
More sentimental and ruder than its predecessor, though its brand of raunch tends to curdle halfway out of the characters' mouths. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
If not precisely poetic in its elaborate offensiveness, it's certainly imaginative. Unfortunately, that's not the same as interesting or engaging, unless you're a dyed-in-the-wool fan. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Kevin Smith's Clerks II doesn't take much notice of anything that's happened since the 1994 original. It's occasionally clever and gets a few points for originality. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Some of the banter is fun, like Randal's debate with Elias over the relative merits of "Star Wars" vs. "The Lord of the Rings." But most is just trash-talk as shoptalk. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
With Clerks II, the director retreats to home turf, but is Smith playing it safe or is he really interested in seeing how the old nabe has changed? Bit of both, actually. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Best of all, Jason Mewes is out of rehab to play Jay and spar with Smith as Silent Bob, his dope-dealing partner. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The attitude is older, maybe a tad sentimental, and as adolescent and reckless as ever. Whether that's a good thing depends on your appreciation for dead-end conversations, geek debates and the Smithspeak sandbox of creative vulgarity. Read full review
50
USA TodayScott Bowles
It's the crude humor that trips up the movie. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
In place of the sharply etched observational humor of the original, which featured a host of no-name actors in memorably quirky performances, we now get mostly raunch and some flaccid cameos from Smith cronies Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Feels a little like the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" -- a similar wet fizzle of a sequel for sequel's sake -- but what do we know? Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
While these individually diverting factors add up to a good time, they don't add up to a good movie. Read full review
50
PremiereMelissa Farrar
Part of the Clerks charm was that Kevin Smith made it for $27,000, and a bigger budget doesn't really help this kind of tale's authenticity. Read full review
40
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
Clerks II can't bear the strain of its amateur-hour theatrics, no matter how big its heart or how many crocodile tears it manages to squirt. The dramatic moments become melodramatic; the bawdy moments turn icky. The fans will eat it up. Read full review
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