Joining the usual gang of Knoxville, Steve-O, Preston Lacy, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, and Danger Ehren are young and crazy admirers of the art. Throughout the film, Sean "Poopies" McInerney, Zach Holmes, Jasper Dolphin, and Eric Manaka go through the same antics as the original crew, with the exception of Rachel Wolfson, who acts as a color commentator for the group.
Guest members include Jeff Tremaine, Eric André and Spike Jonze.
Together they up the ante on pranks and stunts like sky-jumping and human-elephant hunting, all the way to exploding portalets. All just for fun.
There’s a lot of stupidity and male energy in a Jackass movie. And anyone who dares to watch it should be ready for what they’re getting into. Knoxville and his gang aren't known for backing down from their wild antics. Give them anything, a ski, a fish, or a condom, and they’ll surely do something insane with it. Even if you deprive them of any props, they’ll definitely put themselves into strange situations with their fascination with their own bodies. They are so stupidly crazy and chaotic that their stunts and pranks would make people feel uncomfortable and amazed at the same time.
But one thing I truly appreciate about it is its ability to contain comedy. It’s not your usual comical film that relies on slurs or jokes about race, gender, and age; movies that go beyond the norm to be funny. The punchline is always shallow. It’s the slapstick, the injury, or the stupidity of the stunt that will crack you up. And it’s unapologetic about it. The guys laugh, the crew laughs, we laugh, no one complains. Maybe there are some complaints from those who don't understand that the whole premise of the film is to be a jackass as much as possible.
With that said, "Jackass Forever" could definitely be a movie you can ban in your household. There’s no arguing that. It adds little to nothing to our idea of a perfect community. And let’s face it, Knoxville and his gang of misfits aren’t really good examples for kids. Parents would agree that they wouldn’t want their children to voluntarily get hit by a tennis ball or a human baseball.
Though, there must be a reason why they keep doing whacky films like this. Hell, even an award-winning director like Spike Jonze produced it, and production companies really spent millions on it. Sitting through this 90-minute film, the point becomes clear before the 10 minute mark. It’s a film that reassures you that to be brave is to be stupid.
Yes, it’s weird that a movie about bizarre horseplaying could be this reassuring. It’s full of mayhem; people get injured all the time, and some of them get naked just for the LOLs. But beyond the clowning, they really dig deep into our concept of danger. And they’re unbothered about it. They tease and laugh at every prank, but after it’s all done, they turn to each other and make the whole thing into a triumphant celebration of overcoming fear.
I think "Jackass Forever" (and probably all "Jackass" films) is all about that: learning how to face problems with your head held high and get through them despite the stress, worry, and dread you feel. Obviously, I will not watch it all again, although I appreciate the effort and art in it. But one watch is enough for me to absorb the nice reminder that you can do anything in your life.
3/5
