Back in 1994, Kevin Smith burst on the scene as a creative force via the no-budget comedy Clerks. Although Smith intended 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back to bid adieu to these characters/situations, after one film he retreated and that led to 2006’s Clerks II.

Though 2020 brought back Jay and Bob for another headline adventure, the Clerks franchise stayed idle – until now, that is. 2022 took Smith back to the Quick Stop with the logically titled Clerks III.

When we last saw BFFs Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) 16 years ago, the former intended to marry hot girlfriend Becky (Rosario Dawson). The boys also agreed to buy their former places of employment and run the Quick Stop and neighboring video store.

Tragedy struck in the intervening years, as a pregnant Becky died when struck by a drunk driver. This leaves Dante and Randall to continue their consistently aimless lives.

Tragedy-ish hits again when Randall suffers a heart attack. Faced with the belief he wasted his life, Randall decides to make a movie that tells his story and that of his buddies at the Quick Stop.

Should one view it as a coincidence that Smith involves a heart attack as a major life-changing event here since he went through a similar cardiac event in 2018? Of course not, though it seems unclear if this altered his life other than to force the formerly obese Smith to change his health habits and maintain a much more svelte profile.

Based on the often-mawkish III, this event also prompted Smith to “go soft”. Once edgy and daring, Smith mixes tame meta jokes and easy emotion here.

Of course, I don’t fault Smith because he favors a different form of comedy at 51 than he did at 23. However, age alone doesn’t inevitably lead to the toothless material we find here.

I don’t want to exaggerate and imply that III lacks any laughs, as the film provokes the occasional amusing moment. However, too much of the material just echoes prior glories, as the self-referential Smith fails to find much new to say, and the lines tend to feel cliché within the Smith universe.

The film’s heavier emphasis on actual emotions also feels like an outgrowth of Smith’s advancing age. It seems natural that Smith at 51 lacks the snarky cynicism of his 23-year-old self.

Some may view this shift as a sign of maturity as well. With more of a push toward human characters and less of a focus on pop culture references and/or dick jokes, I should applaud Smith for this apparent growth as a filmmaker.

However, “apparent” remains the key phrase there. While the Smith of III conveys the illusion of development, the end result seems phony.

Basically III goes with depression and serious conflict as a crutch. Smith appears to believe these moments convey complexity, but they come across as wholly phony.

It doesn’t help that III relies primarily on actors who really can’t act. When the movie requires O’Halloran and Anderson to portray emotions beyond the slacker snark of the first movie, they come up badly short.

O’Halloran fares better than Anderson, as the latter fails to develop Randall as anything more than a collection of facial tics. Nonetheless, O’Halloran can’t bring believable emotion to Dante either, and it doesn’t help that most of those scenes match him with Dawson, an actual actor whose greater skills simply reinforce his lack of ability.

With every passing year, it appears that 2008’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno will end up as Smith’s last decent movie. While that one wasn’t a classic, it seems vastly superior to the flat, forgettable Clerks III.

Footnote: at the 97-minute mark, Smith offers some narration to discuss the actual Quick Stop and his experiences.

Clerks III appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a satisfying presentation.

Sharpness remained positive most of the time, as the flick offered good delineation. A few wider shots felt a smidgen soft, but most of the movie felt accurate.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws remained absent.

Colors leaned a smidgen teal at times, but the film generally went with a fairly natural palette. Though the hues didn’t dazzle, they became appropriately represented and reasonably full.

Blacks appeared deep and dark, while low-lights seemed smooth and clear. The image worked well.

If I thought hard, I might come up with a circa 2022 movie that less needed a Dolby Atmos soundtrack than Clerks III… but probably not. Downcoverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the mix lacked ambition.

The soundfield offered a limited affair. Music showed good stereo spread, though it barely blended across the rear speakers.

Effects became even less engaging, as they focused heavily on the front and bordered on monaural at times. Like the original Clerks, III offered a chatty experience, so the soundscape never opened up in a meaningful manner.

At least sound quality worked fine. Effects lacked much to do, but they seemed accurate and natural.

Music displayed reasonable range and clarity, while speech appeared concise and crisp. Though I couldn’t find anything memorable in this soundtrack, I also couldn’t claim it failed to match the story.

A small but stacked list of extras ensues, and the first appears before you even reach the disc’s menu, as we find a two-minute, 14-second Introduction from writer/actor/director Kevin Smith. He outlines what to expect from this release and thanks us for our devotion to physical media.

As one whose site depends on these shiny platters, I appreciate that sentiment. Smith offers a fun opening to the disc.

From there we go to an audio commentary from Smith and actors Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman and Austin Zajur. All five sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, the original unused screenplay, cast and performances, costumes, music, editing and related domains.

Though Smith's skills as a filmmaker have declined precipitously over the years, I hoped that his talents as a commentator would remain intact. Prior Smith chats almost always informed and delighted.

Alas, this seems to become another domain where Smith shows a steep dropoff, as least as demonstrated by this spotty discussion - and Smith deserves the blame, as he dominates.

The actors get in occasional remarks, but this remains the Kevin Smith Show most of the time. In the past, he proved blunt and hilarious, but here, he mostly praises himself, cast/crew and the film.

This turns into a real disappointment because Smith used to feel like the guy who didn't want to just gush praise all the time. Unfortunately, much of the commentary revolves around happy talk.

We do find some good nuggets, particularly as they relate to the unused Clerks III screenplay. Too bad so much of the track feels tedious and oriented toward self-plaudits.

The Clerks III Documentary spans one hour, 36 minutes, 12 seconds and includes notes from Smith, Ferhman, Anderson, Zajur, producers Liz Destro andJordan Monsanto, associate producer Ernie O’Donnell, health and safety inspector Stephan Masnyj, production designer Robert Holtzman, and actors Justin Long, Sal Vulcano, Kate Micucci, Michelle Buteau, Yassir Lester, Rosario Dawson, Marc Bernardin, Michael Zapcic, Ming Chen, Jen Schwalbach, Jason Mewes, Harley Quinn Smith, Amy Sedaris, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Betsy Broussard.

We get comments from the aforementioned parties and some notes about the first two Clerks movies and the development of third as well as a few shoot specifics. However, most of “Documentary” acts as more of a production journal.

This means a lot of footage from the set, which sounds good. Unfortunately, like the commentary, the actual material proves less than terrific.

Once again, we find a lot of happy talk and praise. The actual behind the scenes shots tend to manifest as musical montages, so we get less of a vibe for the shoot than I’d like. While some interesting moments arise, “Documentary” lacks consistent substance.

Next comes 3 Decades of Clerks, a one-hour, 15-minute, 15-second program that involves Smith, O’Halloran, Anderson, Mewes, Dawson, Ghigliotti, Destro, Schwalbach, Monsanto, Clerks/Clerks II producer Scott Mosier, Clerks/Clerks II cinematographer Dave Kline, and independent film consultant Bob Hawk.

With “Decades”, we hear about the series over the decades. Though some of this covers well-trodden territory, “Decades” nonetheless offers a good overview and manages a surprising mix of new details along the way, even if it goes heavy on more self-praise toward the end.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we conclude with 30 Deleted/Alternate Scenes. These occupy a total of 29 minutes, 30 seconds.

With so many sequences across less than half an hour, should one expect anything major? Not really.

We get more of Dante moping/crying, but most of the sequences simply extend existing bits. Don’t expect anything memorable, as the deleted clips lack much added humor – other than a long riff of alternate lines from Michelle Buteau, which is probably funnier than the entire final film combined.

Nearly 30 years after the first film created such a buzz, Clerks III demonstrates that Kevin Smith seems out of ideas. A flawed mix of meta jokes and cheap sentiment, the movie fizzles. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture, mediocre audio and a mix of bonus features. Maybe someday Smith’s muse will return, but it doesn’t happen with Clerks III.