As was likely the case for a lot of suburban Millennials growing up in the 2000s, Jackass ruled my world. We had the first film on VHS back in the day, and I got into it right around the time I discovered Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and I was dangerously hooked. I went and saw the second and third films when they came to cinemas, and I devoured the DVD box sets of the original show, Wildboyz, and Viva La Bam. It’s difficult to really put into words just how much fun it has been watching these guys keep finding new ways to hurt themselves and each other over the past two decades, but it is one of the most joyfully meaningless media franchises I have ever encountered (and I mean by design, not as a criticism of such things).
Which makes the prospect of writing a review for the newest theatrical release a bit daunting, since I usually spend my time on here diving into thematic ideas and how it relates to the world when it was released. I know I have a habit of chronic navel-gazing in my writings, but just how much writing material is there to be found in a film that is inherently plotless and not big on ideas beyond “Watch this guy and wince”?
So let’s take this one step at a time. Given all the pre-release hoopla concerning the cast this time around, let’s start there. While it is unfortunate that Bam Margera exited the production as he did, since he’s one of the main pillars of the crew, it’s eased by how all the other returning faces are still going strong. Knoxville is still the captain of a capsizing ship that somehow hasn’t sunk yet, Steve-O and Chris Pontius are still one of the greatest double-acts of their generation, Dave England still has command of his colonic contents, Danger Ehren is still getting the worst of it from everyone around him, and Preston Lacy and Wee-Man are as game for the hurt as ever. Having grown up watching these guys, it’s comforting to see them all on the big screen again.
And then there’s the new faces, of which there’s quite a few. Most of them have their connections to the franchise through being involved with shows helmed by director Jeff Tremaine, like Jasper Dolphin formerly of Odd Future’s Loiter Squad, Eric Manaka from Action Point, and even Eric André fresh off Bad Trip (man, do I regret not being able to catch that one last year), all of whom fit snugly within the larger group. Alongside them, we have who is raring to be the new buttmonkey in ‘Poopies’ (AKA Sean McInerney), Rachel Wolfson is in less of the film than I would have liked considering how well she does in her segments but she still works, but the star of the new crop by far is Zach Holmes, AKA Zackass. It is incredibly infectious seeing just how hyped he gets about every segment he’s in, and he easily gets the biggest laughs of the lot (arguably upstaging even the veterans).
In that outreach to the creatives that have been influenced by the era when Dickhouse basically kept MTV in the spotlight (a fact that isn’t shied away from, as much of the new blood spend time talking about their own nostalgia for the franchise), it kinda operates as the flipside of Jackass Number Two. Where Number Two was a showing of what the franchise is the result of (extreme skateboard culture combined with the transgressive Queer cinema of John Waters and Kenneth Anger), this is about what Jackass itself has influenced. Which is rather important at this stage as, while the film releases have been more-a-less once a decade thus far, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a lot more of them from the older set. Sure, Steve-O shows no signs of slowing down (he’s basically the Gen-X Keith Richards in how nothing can kill him at this point), but these guys are pushing 50 by now; the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised, and not as quick to heal as it used to be. And with Ryan Dunn’s unfortunate passing having had such a staggering impact on the franchise as a whole (up to and including being the first domino that would eventually drive Bam Margera out of this production in the first place), it’s in need of the next generation to keep it alive, if it’s going to keep living at all.
And thankfully, it looks like the future is in safe hands, as this holds up the quite impressive pedigree of the last three films. Now, because I personally think that the surprise of the stunts themselves is half the fun of watching these films for the first time, I won’t get too specific about what takes place here. But overall, it’s a healthy mixture of fresh stunt ideas, and updates on some of the classics. The engineering on display to make some of these stunts work, like the properly cinematic and astoundingly ridiculous opening, is quite impressive all on its own, let alone the still-effective gross-out humour it’s in service to. A side effect of growing up with both Jackass and the Saw films is that I am quite desensitised to the damage and bodily fluids that populate a lot of the film… but even then, this has got some of the biggest bruises yet, and I can’t lie, there were one or two points where I almost felt the impact.
Honestly, even though this is just above the third film in terms of total effectiveness, there’s something particularly vital about this film coming out right now, at this specific point in pop culture history. In the nearly-twelve-years since Jackass 3D, conversations about what constitutes ‘manly’ behaviour and attitudes have become… well, I don’t know how else to put it: It’s pathetic. All this chest-beating and demand for dominance in the world, where even the suggestion of nearby estrogen is enough to make grown-ass men shit themselves, is about as hilariously painful as a game of Nutball.
And here comes what was basically the standard bearer for masculinity in my childhood to set things straight: All this macho behaviour is not only self-destructive, it’s also so not worth taking seriously. You want to make a big deal of how Alpha or Sigma or Delta Delta Delta you are? Have fun. But where the Jackass guys understood and even embraced how homoerotic all of this is, the dudes who keep fixating on the importance of male bonding and treating women as objects (not even object of desire, just things to have around)… yeah, they somehow haven’t put two and two together yet. Then again, considering how queerphobic a lot of that set is, maybe they’re just in denial.
Look, I can wax poetic on how the Jackass crew were my idols growing up, and how I honestly think that that did me far more good than bad in the long run, but at the end of the day, this is a film that exists because watching other people get hurt is inherently funny. It acts on simple needs and impulses in the lizard brain, and Jeff Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and Johnny Knoxville, along with everyone else, remain highly effective at satisfying those urges. If you have a good stomach for gross stuff in movies, or have any fond memories of this franchise from way back when, this is most definitely worth checking out.
And y’know what? Fuck it. When Jackass 4.5 comes out, I’ll review that one too.
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