The original Clerks, released in 1994, was the seminal work for people of my generation. That should be as disturbing as it sounds. I doubt there was a film school in the country that didn’t spew out Kevin Smith wannabes at a tremendous rate for the better part of a decade. All of them, and every other fan of that film, surely got a twang of disappointment when they heard about Clerks II. Had the great bearded auteur finally sold out? Well, amazingly enough, he pulls it off. Where Clerks was about a bunch of losers wanting to do something with their lives, Clerks II takes place 11 years later and finds the same losers now disappointed that they really haven’t done anything with their lives. It actually works, it’s funny, and it’s a story worth telling.

The video quality (1.85:1 anamorphic) is inconsistent. Some scenes are colorful and detailed, while others are washed out. There is a fair amount of grain, as well. The audio isn’t terribly impressive, either, with the Dolby Digital 5.1 really only using the center channel. Dialogue is what you come for with a Kevin Smith movie, though, and it sounds fine.

There are tons of extras, including three different commentary tracks, deleted scenes, bloopers, one long documentary, and 11 short ones. The one on “interspecies erotica” is hilarious and not about what you’d think. While it won’t be as famous or as loved as Clerks, this sequel doesn’t tarnish the image of its predecessor, either.