Why This Film Gives Me Hope...

I've been a Kevin Smith fan since I was 14. Clerks. changed my life and inspired me like nothing else I've experienced since. But I'm not the type of fan who projects my ideals of infallibility onto my heroes, and I'm quick to point out when his work is crap.

This film doesn't look good.

But the reason why it doesn't look good makes me hopeful for what's to come. The film looks like a hodge-podge of nonsensical gimmicks that might work well individually, but put together is an overwhelming tidal wave of unrelated novelties. It doesn't work well in a film aboot convenience store clerks trying to get to a high school party. But it can work in an action/adventure sci-fi comedy, and Kevin Smith recently announced that he'll be adapting The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension for television.

If you aren't familiar with this film, I suggest you seek it out. Peter "RoboCop" Weller stars as a philosophizing experimental scientist rockstar who's rocket car creates a rift that allows 8th dimensional invaders to attack Earth. He and his ragtag band and entourage must drive them back where they came from, along with foiling the plans of the nefarious John Lithgow. Sound erratic? You bet. But it was also a lot of fun and has terrific replay value.

Smith's recent run of kooky films fits perfectly to the motif of Buckaroo Banzai, and his episodes of The Flash on the CW shows that he can showcase incredible character arcs in fantastical settings. He has hosted numerous screenings of the film and has discussed at length his fandom for the franchise, including the limited comic book series that picked up from where the film left off.

All these factors have me just a little excited for what he will come up with in the next year or two in the television series.


Can you say no to this question?