Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Dimension Films | Release Date: August 24, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
10
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
The best-looking, best-scripted and funniest of Smith's pictures, it's also Smith's sharpest. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
In keeping with the Smith rules, the movie is irreverent, self-referential, twisted, cheap and tasteless. And, of course, I mean that as the highest compliment. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
As Jay and Silent Bob, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith are the perfect comedy team for smart, dirty-minded 15-year-olds, which means just about all of us. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
Most of all, I enjoyed the picture's subtext, which is that Smith has become so sensitized to Internet abuse -- that the cathartic climax consists of tracking down bellicose posters (all of whom turn out to be adolescent dweebs) and pummeling the crap out of them. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A blast of comic irreverence that serves as a starring vehicle for two stoner characters who had previously been relegated to the sidelines. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
It's gratifying to see a comedy can have no redeeming social value yet be full of hearty laughs. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Whether you will like Jay and Silent Bob depends on who you are. Most movies are made for everybody. Kevin Smith's movies are either made specifically for you, or specifically not made for you. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
In addition to being his filthiest, this is his most free-associative movie. In spite of and because of its homemade look, it's also his funniest. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Sequels and fun don't often coincide, but this time they do.
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
It's deliciously warped, deceptively smart and undeniably funny. Isn't that enough?
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A hit-or-miss affair that starts out wobbly and then gathers comic momentum. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
The originality and intelligence that made Smith's "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy" such refreshing pleasures are all but absent. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Frisky, raunchy and frequently riotous. Read full review
60
Washington PostRita Kempley
A raunchy parody that's hip-deep in the mainstream it aims to rip, and sometimes does despite a glut of smug inside jokes. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
At times fun but mostly maddeningly uneven, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back feels less like a full-fledged movie than a side project Smith took on to amuse himself and his buddies. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie is sloppy and scattershot, and proud of it. It wears its slipshod, anything-for-a-laugh structure like a badge of honor: Smith is nothing if not self-deprecating. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
I can't imagine how Smith can capture a big enough audience to pay off this private joke, but the inner geek in me had too much fun to care. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
This may be the greatest picture ever made for 14-year-old boys. Mr. Smith may have hit his target, but he aimed very low. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's hit-or-miss comedy of the very broadest sort, but those who groove on deciphering obscure film-geek in-jokes will find their work more than cut out for them. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
There are lots of hilarious, off-the-wall incidents, and the film has a likable freewheeling spirit to go with its knockabout plot. But the film isn't as remotely funny as it means to be. Read full review
40
VarietyScott Foundas
This represents at least as much of an artistic setback for Smith as "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma" were advances. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Smith's unrepentantly juvenile sense of humor leans heavily on elementary pop-culture parody, a particularly tiresome and parasitic form of humor that depends on an audience of smirking know-it-alls who can be trusted to snicker whenever they get the reference. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Only once, in a quick sketch of "Planet of the Apes" -- does the humor seem to spring from pure movie love. In nearly every other respect, the film is so lazy, solipsistic and overpleased with itself it's hard not to believe that this time the Evil Empire has won not just the battle, but the war. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Typical of road comedies, it's a pastiche of sketches. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Now that Smith has gotten these characters and jokes out of his system, here's hoping he can turn to material that doesn't require winking at the audience. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I don't know if the new movie is Smith's weakest. It's certainly his most disposable, a warmed-over hash of jokes that will have Mewes fans rolling with laughter and the rest of us rolling our eyes in disbelief. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This kind of wheel spinning comes from having the desire to speak but nothing much to say, and Smith, who's made a slight movie about his being a slight filmmaker, seems to know this. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Een fans of Jay and Silent Bob may find the story too slender and the jokes too repetitive to be much fun. Read full review
20
New Times (L.A.)Robert Wilonsky
Who wants to pay to see a movie so bad the actors and writer-director feel the need to keep reminding us of how bad it is? Read full review
20
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
This is nothing more than a bare-assed fart in the face of Smith's fans.
10
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Stunning in its guileless self-love, Smith's doodle-movie shows virtually no sign of being made for an audience. The 90-minute by-product of Smith's let's-shoot-a-movie pot party can be mystifying -- we've all stood soberly by as high friends guffaw at nothing in particular, but now we can pay for the privilege. Read full review
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