Kevin Smith got his start in the film industry in the ’90s, making talky comedies that defied the Hollywood flair of loud action movies.
Similar to Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith was able to create movies that moved the story along with people just carrying on interesting conversations about anything and everything. Much like Robert Rodriguez, Smith was able to make his movies for almost no money, making them instantly profitable.
However, Kevin Smith is an acquired taste. If you love him, you absolutely love his work, but if you don’t get him, most of his movies will just leave you scratching your head.
For those who love Kevin Smith, here is a look at all his movies, ranked.
13. Yoga Hosers (2016)
Yoga Hosers is Kevin Smith’s least liked movie, by critics and fans, and ranks at a low 23-percent/34-percent on Rotten Tomatoes for critics/fans scores.
However, at the same time, this movie has a lot of Smith’s quirks that ensures that his most loyal fanbase will have fun watching it.
The movie stars second-generation stars, with Kevin Smith’s daughter Harley Quinn Smith and Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp starring as two teenage girls in Canada who spend time doing yoga and working at a convenience store.
The two girls also had a cameo in Tusk, where they encountered man-hunter Guy LaPointe (Johnny Depp), who also appears in this movie to help the girls when they are accused of murdering two Nazi Satanists.
12. Tusk (2014)
Tusk is a movie that was hard for even hardcore Kevin Smith fans to get into, although his most faithful enjoyed it based on where it came from.
Basically, Smith was on his podcast and was making jokes about making a movie where the main character becomes a walrus at the end, and it had them laughing so hard, they decided to make it.
What resulted was a horror movie.
Justin Long is a podcaster who tries to find someone to interview for his show and ends up in the home of a man named Howard Howe (Michael Parks). The man shares a story of how a walrus named Mr. Tusk saved him after a shipwreck.
It is too late for the podcaster when he realizes he has been drugged and wakes up, realizing he has started to change.
11. Cop Out (2010)
The movie that almost made Kevin Smith want to quit directing was the 2010 comedy film Cop Out.
This is because Smith continuously butted heads with star Bruce Willis, and Smith said he would never work with the actor again.
The movie starred Willis as a hard-nosed cop who was forced to team up with a wise-cracking cop played by Tracy Morgan. Set up as a traditional buddy cop movie, the two ended up in over their heads.
This was Smith’s most commercial movie release and his biggest disappointment.
10. Red State (2011)
Tusk wasn’t Kevin Smith’s first movie outside of the comedy genre. That would be the 2011 drama film Red State.
This movie stars Michael Parks as a cult leader at the Five Points Trinity Church. When some teenage boys meet up with a girl for the Internet promise of group sex, they end up drugged and caged at the church.
The church has taken on itself to execute sinners.
Soon, the ATF shows up, and a standoff with the church leads to a shootout. By the end, this is a movie that shows there are no good guys in some battles. According to Smith, he wanted the movie to actually reveal that the Rapture had started.
9. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
Released in 2019, Kevin Smith returned to his View Askew Universe with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
The movie made fun of the idea of Hollywood always making remakes and reboots and criticized the trend while making a reboot/remake of its own.
This movie took several of the jokes from Jay, and Silent Bob Strike Back and made subtle changes, which the characters in the movie then referenced. There is also the fact that the plot is exactly the same.
Smith also brought back characters from Chasing Amy and Clerks while also having Loki from Dogma show up for no reason at all.
This had a lot to love for Kevin Smith’s hardcore fans but is the weakest of the Jay and Silent Bob movie series.
8. Jersey Girl (2004)
One of the most unfairly criticized Kevin Smith movies is his 2004 film Jersey Girl.
The reason fans initially criticized this movie was due to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s relationship. For those around at the time, their relationship adversely affected Affleck’s career due to people only paying attention to the nonstop tabloid news.
J-Lo was in this movie, but only at the start.
However, the movie itself is a sweet story about a father and his daughter, who are going on alone after the death of his wife. Liv Tyler stars as his new love interest, and George Carlin is great in his role as his father.
7. Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is one of Kevin Smith’s raunchiest movies, but it also contains one of the sweetest stories.
In the movie, Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are best friends and roommates who are trying to make ends meet. They then decide that they could make a lot of money to help them get by if they make a porno.
There is nudity in this movie, mostly from real-life porn star Katie Morgan. However, the story is about the relationship between Zack and Miri and how they realize they have stronger feelings than just friends.
6. Clerks II (2006)
Clerks II is the direct sequel to Kevin Smith’s debut film, made 12 years later.
In the movie, convenience store clerk Dante and video store clerk Randall now work at Mooby’s, the fast-food restaurant that Smith introduced in Dogma.
Dante is in love and is planning to get married, but everyone knows that this is not what he wants, and they just have to convince him of that.
The jokes almost all hit in this movie, and it was a worthy addition to the View Askew Universe.
5. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back might be Kevin Smith’s funniest movie — especially for Smith’s most loyal fans.
Jay and Silent Bob learn that Hollywood is making a movie based on the comic book characters that Banky (Jason Lee) and Holden (Ben Affleck) based on the two.
They set out to stop the movie from being made and experience a lot of mishaps along the way. Included in the film is a whos-who of Hollywood talent, including George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Matt Damon, Sean William Scott, Judd Nelson, Chris Rock, and many more.
There are also characters popping up here from Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy. In addition, there’s a new set of cat burglars who get in the way, played by Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter, and Jennifer Schwalbach.
This movie is a blast from start to finish.
4. Dogma (1999)
Dogma is Kevin Smith’s most controversial movie, but one that has a lot to love about it.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are Bartleby and Loki, fallen angels banished to Earth for insubordination. When they meet up with a demon they know named Azrael (Jason Lee), he lets them know a loophole to get back into Heaven.
The problem is that if they do it, they will destroy Earth and humanity as we know it.
Also, they meet up with Jay and Silent Bob.
Also starring in the movie in great performances are Linda Fiorentino as Bethany Sloane, a descendent of Jesus Christ, Alan Rickman as the angel Metatron, Chris Rock as Rufus, the 13th apostle, Salma Hayek as Serendipity, God’s muse, and Alanis Morrisette as God herself.
3. Mallrats (1995)
Mallrats is a movie that flopped when Kevin Smith released it, and that is a tragedy. The film was years ahead of its time and is similar to American Pie when it was released as an instant hit.
If Mallrats had been released just two years later, it could have been Smith’s most successful movie.
Jason Lee and Jeremy London are T.S. Quint and Brodie Bruce, two friends who like to hang out at the mall.
However, when T.S.’s girlfriend (Claire Forlani) agrees to appear on her dad’s dating show, and Brodie’s ex-girlfriend Rene (Shannen Doherty) starts to date Shannon (Ben Affleck), the two meet up at the mall, and everything goes to hell.
2. Clerks (1994)
In 1994, Kevin Smith made his debut breakout film with Clerks.
Shot in black and white at the convenience store he worked at, Smith spent $27,000 on credit cards to make the movie, and it ended up making him a massive star, bringing in over $3 million in theaters.
The movie was simple. A convenience store clerk named Dante and the video store clerk Randall from next door spends the entire film talking about how crappy life is, how Star Wars was misunderstood, and dealing with the worst customers you could ever imagine.
The dialogue was masterful, and Smith was a made man.
1. Chasing Amy (1997)
The best Kevin Smith movie he ever made hit in 1997 with Chasing Amy.
The film tells the story of a comic book creator named Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a girl named Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams). The problem is that Alyssa is bisexual and has chosen to date women exclusively.
Holden sets out to try to win her over, not realizing that just because he wants something, it doesn’t mean that he can have it.
Also starring in the movie is Jason Lee as his friend and comic book co-creator Banky Edwards, as well as Jay and Silent Bob, who are along for the ride, but only background characters here.
Chasing Amy was one of Smith’s most critically acclaimed movies, winning Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards and even earning a Criterion Collection release.