All 12 Kevin Smith Movies Ranked From Worst to Best (Photos)

Films like “Clerks” and “Dogma” display the indie-film icon’s talent, but his extended Q&A sessions show how down-to-earth he is.

Smith has been known to say in recent years that his movies “aren’t for critics,” which feels especially true of “Tusk” — not because it’s a misfire (though it is) but because it’s so clearly a half-baked “wouldn’t it be cool if…” idea that actually got produced.

“Human Centipede”-style gross-outs and an abundance of low-effort Canada jokes don’t pair as well as Jay and Silent Bob.

Alienating distributors at Sundance was one thing, but more damning was the tepid response with which “Red State” was met by audiences.

There is one classic Smith moment, though, as an offscreen voice (Smith himself) demands that Michael Parks‘ end-times preacher “shut the fuck up” just before the credits roll.

The filmmaker’s director-for-hire gig isn’t actively bad so much as unremarkable, with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis as mismatched partners straight out of countless other buddy-cop comedies.

Though Willis frequently looks bored (he and Smith didn’t get along), Morgan and Seann William Scott provide their fair share of laughs, especially during a drawn-out knock-knock joke that’s much funnier than it has any right to be.

“Mallrats” is typically considered upper-echelon Smith by ardent fans, but there’s little in this sophomore feature that isn’t done better elsewhere: “Clerks” is wittier, “Dogma” has more to say and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is more brazen.

Smith’s most recent standout exhibits all the writer-director’s best qualities: vulgar but kindhearted, frequent callbacks to “Star Wars,” memorably out-there characters.

Twelve years did little to change Dante and Randal’s work ethic, but the two slackers grew enough during the interim (and, more importantly, the film’s running time) to justify revisiting them.

In some respects the most dated of Smith’s films, “Chasing Amy” might also be the best-intentioned — an earnest, heart-in-the-right place drama whose portrayal of LGBT relationships is very much of its time.

Most of the now-signature elements introduced in his debut — the casual, rapid-fire banter and the endearing slackers delivering it — have yet to be be bested.

Smith maxed out credit cards and filmed at night in the convenience store where he himself worked in order to make “Clerks,” becoming a standard-bearer of independent film in the process.