Directed by Jeff Tremaine
Starring Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Preston Lacy, Eric André
Based on concepts by Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, Eric André, Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Sarah Sherman, Chris Pontius, Bam Margera, etc.
Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
Rated R
In theaters February 4

by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

In 2016, I saw comedian Eric André perform live at First Avenue in Minneapolis. At the time, André had just come out with his distorted take on the late night talk show on Adult Swim, The Eric André Show. If you’re not familiar, you can check it out on Hulu. During the show, André ran into the audience. I was standing on the second level with a full Diet Coke. André rushed up to me, we locked eyes, and he smacked my drink out of my hands. I cackled.

I mention this not only because André is featured in the latest Jackass! film, Jackass Forever, but I think it gives you some idea of why this sort of comedy is so funny to me. When I watch, for example, any given SNL skit, I can get a sense of where it’s going within the first minute. From there, I just kind of tolerate it. I’ll maybe even chuckle politely as if the writer of the sketch is in the room with me. But for me, a true laugh, which some have called my “theater laugh,” comes from a feeling of genuine surprise. And there’s plenty of those to be had in Jackass Forever. In some cases, the Jackass crew will start a stunt one way, and then it becomes something else, expectedly or unexpectedly. A stunt called “Silence of the Lambs” leads the Jackass crew on to think they’re going to be meeting a rattlesnake. But the lights go out, and the rattlesnake leaves the room. Or does he?! Johnny Knoxville, in night vision goggles, messes with people in the dark. In the next room, also pitch black, cast iron pans hang from the ceiling. Bonk! It’s like watching a live action Looney Tunes.

Pranks are expectedly not kid-friendly as well. If a part of your body can be squished, punctured, hit, bit, twisted, poked, electrocuted, etc., trust that the Jackass crew can and will do it. In an absurd opening sequence, a Godzilla-like creature clumsily attacks a city, sending the Jackass crew (including a cameo from Spike Jonze), running for their lives. Although the creature looks… Odd. It’s either a clumsily made puppet or wait, is that… is that.. Yes, yes it is. There’s farting, sharting, bruised balls, excrement, animal semen, and if any of this repulses you, then, well, that’s kind of the idea. In college I took a culture studies class on comedy and the professor put on the scene in Pink Flamingoes where Divine eats dog shit. I remember several people getting up and leaving the class. John Waters is certainly an influence among these people. They’re hoping for that reaction. Even crew members end up gagging in more than a couple scenes (sadly, into their masks, too).

If excrement and penises flattened like pressed flowers isn’t your bag, much of the budget comes from animal appearances and animal handlers. I think they covered half the alphabet here. B is for Bear. V is for Vulture. R is for Rattlesnake. And so on. In what is perhaps one of the best stunts, two men wear astronaut-style helmets, a tube between them. In the middle, a spider. So outrageously silly, and it’s made even funnier by the fact that one of the men is Dark Shark, the father of Jasper, a member of the Jackass crew. When Dark Shark complains about the task, Jasper remarks, “I got you a job!”  Jackass! co-creator Jeff Tremaine returns as the director, and is already tagged to the next installment. I foolishly thought that maybe the references to multiple concussions and bald spots meant that this might be the last film, although, the title alone tells you it’s not. I feel like we’ll just keep getting these films as long as there are people around who want to assemble, for example, a Human Ramp, or a tap dance where men in bare feet are on a surface where they can get electrocuted. And all of that sounds grand.