Rated R for strong crude material and dangerous stunts, graphic nudity and language throughout.
Since 2000, actor and stuntman Johnny Knoxville has been one of the leading men of the MTV franchise Jackass. He and his team of friends and fellow stuntmen performed dangerous stunts and pulled practical jokes both on each other and in public with hidden cameras, putting their lives in danger for the sick amusement of themselves and their audiences. Though the show attracted numerous controversies, they managed to keep it going for over 20 years. Now that the team is approaching middle age, they are no longer in the condition they once were to perform the same dangerous stunts. But that won’t stop them from trying. They have assembled once again for one final outing, along with the help of a host of newcomers, many of whom grew up watching the original series. It’s a reunion that will put a painful punctuation mark on the gang’s endearing legacy. Like the original series and the other films, Jackass Forever is a kind of unevenness that can’t be found in any other comedy. The various stunts are either uproariously hilarious or horrifically disgusting. The whole team may be reaching their 50s, but that doesn’t change the high level of immaturity they rely on for their comedy. And your enjoyment of the film will depend on your tolerance for that kind of humor. That being said, when the skits are funny, they are absolutely hysterical. Of course, every single one of them involves bodily harm in some form, but the successful bits are the ones that mostly focus on the teams’ interactions over the amount of pain or grossness they inflict on one another. It’s the ones that allow you to ignore the kind of harm being done and focus on the clever stupidity that goes into them that earn the biggest laughs. That’s really the appeal of this film. It’s a reunion of friends who have been with each other for decades. For the audience, it feels like getting together with people you haven’t seen for a long time and looking back on the stupid things you did years ago. It’s filled with lots of great callbacks to previous stunts, and they find ways to reinvent them that push the danger limits more than they did previously. However, as I said above, your enjoyment depends on your tolerance for their style of humor. Not only do the skits involve bodily harm, but many also involve bodily functions and fluids. They tend to go so far that even the least squeamish person may retch at some of their stunts. I found myself looking away from the screen as much as bursting into laughter, as well as regretting buying a popcorn to eat during this film. Like reminiscing with friends about past actions, Jackass Forever is a hilarious look back at what made us laugh as kids while also reminding us of how stupid those actions really were. It’s fun to see the team back together for one last kick to the face (and groin), and they manage to wring some final moments of hilarity out of their signature stupidity. It’s not something I’m eager to go through again, but it’s an effective one time reunion.
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