There comes a point where every franchise has to ask itself when enough is enough. Most greatly overstay their welcome, desperately chasing diminishing returns until audiences truly stop caring. Jackass has always been different by definition. It was never about elaborate mythology or escalating action spectacle. It was about a group of friends doing incredibly stupid things because making each other laugh is always reason enough. Somehow, that simple premise has become one of the most influential comedy franchises of the 21st century.
Check out our list of the best Jackass stunts
Twenty-six years after Johnny Knoxville first introduced himself to the world - “Hi, I’m Johnny Knoxville, welcome to Jackass” - Jackass: Best and Last arrives as what is supposedly the crew’s final ride. Directed as always by co-creator Jeff Tremaine, the film mixes brand new stunts with classic footage, deleted material, behind-the-scenes reflections, and plenty of painful reminders that nobody involved is in their twenties anymore. It’s less a traditional Jackass movie and more like a victory lap compilation. Thankfully, that’s exactly what it needs to be.
This isn’t the funniest Jackass movie ever made or the most daring or shocking. But it may very well be the most emotional. That feels like a strange thing to write about a franchise built on bruises, bulls, broken bones, body fluids, and catastrophic decisions, but Best and Last understands that what audiences have really been invested in all these years wasn’t solely the pain for our pleasure. It was the genuine friendship at the center of it all.
Watching Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, Dave England, Preston Lacy, and the extended family reminisce about everything they’ve survived together becomes unexpectedly touching. The scars, concussions, surgeries, and countless hospital visits suddenly stop feeling like punchlines and start feeling like the price they willingly paid to create something nobody else could. The film openly acknowledges their age and physical limitations, making mortality part of the joke without ever making light of it.
Of course, the sentimentality never overwhelms the stupidity. The new material proves the crew hasn’t completely lost their edge, even if their recovery times have certainly gotten longer. Robot-assisted prostate exams, painful electrical experiments, and the sort of gleefully juvenile ideas that only Jackass could turn into theatrical entertainment still land with the same mixture of horrified laughter and secondhand pain. Some bits work better than others (as has always been true throughout the franchise) but even the weaker sketches benefit from the infectious commitment of everyone involved.
The compilation format is admittedly a gamble. Fans expecting ninety minutes of entirely new stuff may leave slightly disappointed (especially those who have watched the classic stunts countless times over) and the balance between nostalgia and fresh material won’t satisfy everyone. But framing the film as both a retrospective and farewell gives it a unique identity instead of trying to compete with Jackass Forever, which already proved these guys could still deliver fresh insanity in 2022.
Check out our full review of ‘Jackass Forever’
What becomes increasingly apparent is how near impossible Jackass would be to recreate today. Plenty of imitators have copied the injuries, gross-out humor, or reckless stunts over the years, but almost none have captured the genuine affection between the people on screen. That chemistry has always been the franchise’s secret weapon. The audience laughs because it’s obvious these people would happily embarrass and mutilate themselves on camera if it meant making their friends laugh first.
There’s an undeniable bittersweet quality hanging over Best and Last. Ryan Dunn’s absence continues to be felt, while Bam Margera’s complicated ups and downs with the franchise leaves another noticeable hole, even as archival footage acknowledges the group’s history. Time has changed this family in ways that no amount of nostalgia can erase. And maybe that’s why this farewell works.
Rather than pretending nothing has changed, Jackass: Best and Last embraces the passage of time. It celebrates everything that came before while recognizing that bodies eventually stop cooperating with the ambitions of twenty-year-olds. It’s not a defeat. It’s more like maturity - well, as much maturity as a movie featuring repeated attacks to the groin can possibly have.
For over two decades, Jackass has existed in a category entirely of its own. It influenced internet comedy, YouTube prank culture, stunt filmmaking, and even reality television forever, yet nobody has ever successfully duplicated its combination of reckless creativity and genuine camaraderie.
If this truly is the last time Johnny Knoxville looks into the camera before knowingly putting himself in harm’s way, then it’s an ending worthy of the legacy. Equal parts hilarious, painful, nostalgic, and unexpectedly heartfelt, Jackass: Best and Last reminds us that growing older doesn’t necessarily mean growing up. Sometimes, it just means taking one final hit for the boys.
