Weekend Watch: Clerks III, Cobra Kai Season 5
More time spent in convenience stores and the karate kids return with another fun run.
Image Credit: Lionsgate
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Kevin Smith is back at the Quick Stop and it’s round five for the karate kids. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
When Kevin Smith last dug into nostalgia and his own “View Askewniverse” for Jay And Silent Bob Reboot, I was initially not a fan and wrote as much in a review for one of my regular outlets.
Yet I’ve since re-visited the film and discovered a lot more to love about it. To the point where I wonder what I was thinking when I first watched it.
I’m also happy to report that I had no such reservations about Clerks III, which delivers the jokes, memories and a few emotional gut punches for long-time fans.
While total newcomers to Smith’s work will probably be bewildered (though there is still fun to be had for them), those who have followed it for years are much more likely to embrace this new sequel, which both looks back at 1994’s original that launched his career and channels his viewpoint since his heart attack in 2018.
In fact, that medical emergency is a key plot point in the movie. Set in the present day, Clerks III finds Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) once more working at the Quick Stop (though with Randall, “working” is as ever a loose term), albeit now as joint owners of the convenience store. They still complain about the customers, still gather friends to play hockey on the roof and still swap pop culture jokes.
Local drug dealers Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) are also present and – is “correct” the right word? Probably not – and while they’ve graduated from slinging weed from outside of the video store to legally providing it from inside it (the video business dried up years ago), little has changed for these characters on a core level.
And yet Smith finds creative ways to revisit and deepen them, especially when Randall has his own heart attack and decides to do what the director did all those years ago, long before his own cardiac incident – make a movie about his job and the people around it. The result is a chaotic shoot that allows for plenty of cameos and callbacks that still work within the new narrative.
O’Halloran and Anderson slip these roles back on like comfy clothes, easily bringing the older Dante and Randall to life, while Jay and Bob, for all that they’ve been through (comic books and movies based on them, road trips and more), still essentially the same goofballs we know and occasionally love.
Faces and places from the original movie (and, in heartfelt fashion, the less-loved Clerks II, which I nonetheless have fond memories of) crop up, but rather than just wallowing in the past, Smith here takes the chance to explore his own feelings and reminiscences through the comedy of the characters.
The writer/director gets a lot of stick for falling back on his past work, and for his basic sense of moviemaking, but in a film such as Clerks III, it serves the story, shows his own growth and offers a touching, funny chance to catch up with people some of us feel like we’ve known for a very long time. And if you’re a total newbie? Track down the first two movies and you’re good to go.
Clerks III will be in cinemas via Lionsgate and Fathom Events between 13-18 September. Smith is also doing a nationwide tour with the film. It’ll be in UK cinemas from 16 September.
Image Credit: Netflix
Those who’ve been reading this column for the past couple of years will know of my deep and abiding love for Netflix’s Cobra Kai, the legacy sequel TV series that could, and a show that expands and develops the lore of the Karate Kid franchise in a way that works to make the story fresher, funnier and more entertaining than most of the film follow-ups.
Season 5 picks up after the shock ending of Season 4 – wherein the Cobra Kai dojo, currently led by the scheming, deceitful Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), won the All-Valley Karate Tournament and, for reasons that don’t really need to be explored too closely, forced Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) Miyagi-Do and Johnny Lawrence’s (William Zabka) Eagle Fang Karate to shut down.
Naturally, our heroes are not about to take that lying down and are soon plotting to fight back (in more ways than one). But before that, there are other life issues to be dealt with. Johnny, knowing that he needs to earn money with a new baby on the way, turns to Uber driving and food delivery in absolute the most Johnny Lawrence way possible – heavy rock, zero stars and zero fs given.
Though the creative team is slowly running out of classic Karate Kid characters to update for the show, there are still some left to tackle, and as usual, they fit in seamlessly.
And, as always, the younger characters have their own storylines, which are less involved with romantic issues and lean ever more heavily into rivalries between the dojos. While their scenes remain slightly less compelling than anything featuring Daniel or Johnny, the show’s longevity means we’ve gotten to know these people and the cast has figured out how to get the most from their roles.
The fight scenes remain fun and there are some definite highlights this season, including great work from Yuji Okumoto as Daniel’s old rival-turned-friend/mentor Chozen, who steals scenes this season.
By turns funny and dramatic, action-packed (at least as much as the budget allows, and the show cannily saves it for certain standout moments), Cobra Kai continues to impress, proving to be much more layered than the concept or the movies might suggest. You can find the previous seasons on Netflix, and it’s worth diving into.
Cobra Kai Season 5 is on Netflix now. I’ve seen the entire season.