Jackass is loud, abrasive, disgusting, juvenile, abhorrent, and absolutely genius. It’s an essential foundation of American entertainment and culture. Someone had to do what these maniacs do, they’re just the ones who were able to record it and bring it to the masses. It’s art. Extreme art that has proved to have universal appeal in its own gross, shocking, and perversely hilarious way.
What the latest installment of the franchise, Jackass Forever, proves is that even after over 20 years of seeing these guys hurt and humiliate themselves in various insane ways, they still haven’t lost their power to shock and affect people. But mostly, the Jackass crew (minus two with the absence of Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera) have just always been too damn entertaining with their ridiculous capacity for pain and ability to laugh through the worst torments imaginable.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Jeff Tremaine, Spike Jonze, Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Preston Lacy, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, and Dave England all return for another round of punishment. The gang may finally be showing their age on the outside (it’s been a long ten years since the last Jackass movie after all) but are just as supernaturally resilient as ever, even if more than one of them gets carried away on a stretcher in this movie.
Still, they wisely bring in a fresh crop of younger voluntary victims that consist of Sean "Poopies" McInerney, Davon Wilson (of Odd Future fame), Zach Holmes (who sports his own Jackass tattoo on his chest), Rachel Wolfson (the crew’s first woman), and Eric Manaka. Everyone gets their chance to shine, in fact, all of them are all too eager to jump in the ring. Poopies and Wolfson show their ability to take things like snake bites and scorpion stings to the face like it’s a breeze, but it’s Holmes who almost steals the whole show with his infectious, giggly attitude and fearlessness in jumping right into things, for example a cactus patch.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
But the true MVP of Jackass Forever this time around is Ehren, who has an onslaught of terrible, terrible things done to him, far too much of it to his groin area. In one of the film’s more intense segments, the defensive power of an athletic cup is put to the test as Ehren takes direct shots to the family jewels from UFC Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. For reference, Ngannou holds the record for the hardest punch ever landed at 129,161 units. That is the equivalent of 96 horsepower.
That’s just the start, as other professional athletes are called in to launch things at Ehren’s nether regions (not always landing on the first try) and much worse. The aftermath of his destroyed genitals is one of the franchise’s most jaw-dropping moments. There’s no shortage of those this time around, as the stunts are some of the most inspired they’ve ever been. The time away has apparently done some good.
Read full Knotfest write-up of the Hall of Fame Stunts of the 'Jackass' Franchise
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Knoxville’s latest encounter with a bull gave him some of the worst injuries of his career - and arguably the film’s gnarliest segment - leading to the longtime stuntman to possibly be considering hanging up the Jackass crown. But despite this and a brief retrospective credits sequence similar to the one in Jackass 3D, Jackass Forever never really feels like a finale or farewell. It’s like it never left, and never shows signs that it’s interested in slowing things down or overcomplicating itself. Sometimes, people just wanna see if a naked man in a tub of water can make their fart explode.
The rise of home videos and DIY filmmaking, particularly in the underground world of skateboarding and stunts, and the public’s need to be entertained by more and more extremities and excess, is what led to the creation of Jackass and its instant popularity. But what makes it so miraculous is how this franchise has managed to endure well into the era of YouTube, instant access to extreme content of their choosing, and an ever-growing desensitization to, well, pretty much everything. There’s still a power that the Jackass crew holds that’s unlike anything else. There’s true craftsmanship at work here; a passionately serious approach to doing the dumbest things possible just because it might be insane enough to be funny. I guess that’s never going away, and we’re all the luckier for it.
‘Jackass Forever’ arrives in theaters everywhere February 4th via Paramount Pictures.
