Review: Jackass: Best and Last

The final ever Jackass movie - don't laugh, Johnny Knoxville gets all serious about it in the movie - is basically a retrospective with a bunch of new stunts mixed in; it's one last lap around the bull ring rather than anything that'll drag you into cinemas on its own merits. 

Despite the new cast members, 2022's Jackass Forever was the real farewell; this is making bank off the odds and ends - which is totally appropriate considering the way the franchise has constantly reworked itself from TV to film to .5 versions to spin offs and so on. Jackass wouldn't be Jackass without a "new" installment where you spend half the time wondering if you've seen a particular clip before, and this is your chance to enjoy that feeling one last time.

If you're invested in the cast you'll be glad to know that pretty much everyone still alive is here. The estranged Bam Margera shows up a bunch in old pranks; the deceased Ryan Dunn's "classic" toy car in the rectum X-ray prank gets a re-run. As far as the new footage goes, sadly not everyone gets to shit themselves or stick their hand up someone's butt. 

There's no real thematic link between the old stunts shown here - it really is just the greatest hits - but there's a bit more variety when it comes to both suffering and just plain inventiveness in the old material, including a never-before-seen early prank where Knoxville dressed up as an escaped convict and tried to get a hacksaw from a hardware store (things took a turn when the LAPD arrived).

Then again, there's also the classic portapotty slingshot ("Poo Cocktail Supreme") which will haunt everyone who ever sees it until the grave, so thanks for that.

Johnny Knoxville continues to demonstrate that without him as a kind of demented carnival barker all we'd have is a bunch of slightly off-putting people hurting each other (though an honourable second place goes to Steve-O). It's no surprise he's largely watching on during the new stunts; in case you've forgotten what he put himself through, his near suicidal rocket ride and the legitimately scary scene where he gets tossed hard by a bull from Jackass Forever both show up here.

We also get to see the first ever Jackass stunt, where Knoxville shoots himself in the chest while wearing a bulletproof vest (and a few porno mags), which seems almost innocent compared with what followed. Bored teens with access to guns and (hopefully) bulletproof vests were almost certainly shooting at each other well before Knoxville and his friends - they just had the technology to film it and the idea that other people would want to see it.

The appeal of Jackass has always been as much about watching everyone else wet themselves with laughter as it is seeing just how much abuse a human can take. There's a definite touch of sadness here as everyone realises that they won't get together to do this kind of thing any more. 

Then again, "this kind of thing" is pretty gross. Bodily waste, rectal examinations, people getting electrocuted; at least they'll have something they can look back on with pride.

- Anthony Morris