Trooper Clerks

review written 2/22/2003

Star Wars meets Kevin Smith. I love it already.

There's a live-action Trooper Clerks trailer spoofing the Clerks trailer, a Flash animation, and a bastardized censored Flash animation. I review the first two.

LIVE-ACTION TRAILER

A shot-for-shot remake with a nice James Earl Jones impression and some very well-made stuff. The trailer is so strictly spot-on that it's hard to comment on anything specific or creative. But look at that Death Star hallway. Admire the costumes. Wow.

FLASH ANIMATION

Free from the constraints of mocking a trailer shot for shot, this is where Studio Creations shines. Postulating that the Death Star plans got to the Rebels because of Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob is funny enough. But doing it this well is a treat for all of us.

All the characters are written perfectly, just as Kevin Smith might have. I can really imagine Dante and Randal beneath those trooper helmets. Dante and Randal (and, technically, Silent Bob) are voiced very well; Jay, not so well.

The style is bold and beautiful, even better than the actual Clerks animated series. The Flash medium is very much taken advantage of in terms of sound re-use, vectors-only graphics and graphic recycling (bet you didn't realize so few trooper heads were used!) The dialogue is sharp and funny, although a scene of exposition with a janitor somewhat drags.

If you haven't seen Clerks—or Mallrats and Chasing Amy, for that matter—you won't get all the jokes. But there's still a lot to enjoy in this romp for you.

And if you do know View Askew—if you know the significance of the number 37—find this movie and watch it now.

In either case, be sure to stay through the credits for the best gag in the whole thing.

It's a shame about the censored version... you gotta have the F-word in this.