“Jackass Forever” has everything dialled to 11. The stunts, the laughs, the pain, and, most crucially, the nostalgia and heart that made it a cultural phenomenon almost two decades ago.
Twenty years on from the original movie, Johnny Knoxville and his crew return for one last ride (for the OG’s anyway) of hilarity, torment, side-splitting laughter, and downright pain. No spoilers here, but the opening of this latest instalment is by far the best the team have ever come up with, revel in its depraved brilliance as it plays out on screen.
The entire cast are in peak form. Chris Pontius and EhrenMcGhehey share the film’s most belly laughable moments, including arguably the most brutal sequel to the original “Cup Test” (prepare to wince), while every newcomer shoots for the stars and then some.
And yet, for all the broken bones, concussions, bee stung genitalia and brutal takedowns we’ve seen all these years, what makes the series as good as it is, and this installment especially, is its sheer infectiousness. The Knoxville laugh is enough to put a smile on audiences faces, which is only intensified by whatever fantastically crazy thing is going on, on screen. It’s a shared experience of complete mayhem and it’ll be the one time in the cinema you won’t want it to be quiet.
For those who grew up with the show and the films (without wanting to wander further down the cliché path) it really is like hanging out with old friends, and for those who’ll discover the series through this film it’ll work just a well, having them scouring streamers for those that came before. [B+]
Now it looks like Bradford Young — who took a sabbatical from movies these last seven or eight years — has attached to the project as DP. This is a welcome surprise.