Jackass Forever: A Spoiler Free Review

To preface this review, I must state that Jackass has a special place in my heart. Many late nights were spent watching the Jackass crew perform their stunts and antics while I was growing up. It was one of myself, and my friend groups go to series for sleep overs or just to put something on. It was a series that I enjoyed and grew up with.

So walking into that theater and having Johnny Knoxville open up the film with a special message was almost like a coming home experience for me.

And boy, what an experience.

I want to start by saying that this is the first feel-good film of 2022. Truthfully. It is a blast, and surprisingly wholesome watching these now old men play pranks, and goof around in what is arguably the best-worst job in the world.

Jackass Forever opens in arguably the most cinematic fashion Jackass will ever and has ever opened up with; a monster destroying a city in a Godzilla like fashion. I won't spoil the monster because that is half the fun and the shock.

This opening has some clever callbacks and introduces us to our grizzled, old cast, and some new additions. I thought it was a clever and incredibly fun way to open the film.

What follows is the typical Jackass formula; a string of vignettes that ultimately lead up to one wild, extravagant final stunt that rounds out the film. These vignettes can be staged stunts, on set pranks, and public pranks that I still find surprising to this day that they are able to pull off with a cast of their notoriety and fame.

And you know what, why reinvent the wheel?

This formula just works. I think it is partly due to the likeableness of the cast and the profound stupidity that is done on screen. It is a nearly personal experience, as if the camera is an extension of ourselves, and the cast acknowledges us. The fourth wall is nearly never present.

The stunts are a little toned back from the original three installments, partly due to the times, but I believe it is largely due to the age of the cast. There are points in the film when you see them in casts, bloodied, or heading to the hospital for a stunt they would have gotten right up from in their younger days. For example, a typical treadmill stunt, one that actually calls back to an older stunt, puts Steve-O and Knoxville in casts and on a trip to the hospital.

I think that this allows the film to have the stunts be a little bit more of spectacles and better planned than what existed in the past. There are still classic pain challenges, bulls, and treadmills, but they feel more planned and thought out than in the past. There is also a theme of the changing of the guard. A lot of the aging cast often watches and taunts these newer cast members as they do stunts in a similar fashion as they once did.

There are many moments in the film where you will laugh out loud in the theater, wince, and even groan at the thought and image on the screen, but you won't be alone. This is one of the best films to see in a large group, because the audience reactions are just as good as the stunts happening on screen. Quite different than the often best feeling of an empty theater for viewing.

And I hate going to theaters with large, noisy crowd.

At an hour and a half run time, and a blistering pace, Jackass Forever is a fun romp into the past, and offers a great closing film for the aging Jackass group.

4/5.