Jackass Forever: Let It Go, Fellas.
Jackass Forever, Paramount (2022)
By R. J. F.
When Jackass first became popular on MTV, I was laughing along with the masses. Who didn’t enjoy watching a group of young dudes pulling off sneaky pranks, dangerous stunts, and, in general, acting like jackasses? When the show premiered on MTV, the guys of Jackass were immediately popular and mostly well-loved. I remember seeing Chris Pontius at a dive bar in the Griffith Park area of Los Angeles one Halloween, and he was dressed as Frida Kahlo. Obviously, he was a jackass both on and off screen.
I have to admit that I have seen all of the Jackass universe’s creations (I think): the original show, the Bam Margera spinoff, Steve-O and Chris Pointius’s spinoff, and all of the movies. I feel pretty lame for owning up to that, but whatever. I am who I am. So, when my bff and I saw a preview for Jackass Forever a while back, we both agreed that we needed to see it for nostalgia’s sake. We were laughing under our masks when we walked in the theater and saw that the only people in there were middle-aged Gen X-ers and Millennials. When the movie started, we were mumbling about how Johnny Knoxville could still get it, and how Steve-O looked so good and healthy in comparison to his days when he was fueled by drugs. As for the other men of the group, it was pretty clear that years of stunts and just age, in general, made them look tired and old.
They introduced new and younger people into the group, and it makes me wonder if they’re going to try and keep the franchise going. Sadly, the new players were mostly underwhelming. The only female newbie barely did anything, and it seemed like they purposely didn’t put her in any stunts where she would risk severe injury. If you’re signing up for this, shouldn’t you be partaking in all of the stunts regardless of gender? The other guys that they added to the crew were just “meh”. Their stunts didn’t hit as hard as some of the original ones that we have all seen. It was like watching the hologram version of Tupac at Coachella; that shit ain’t real enough!
At the end of the movie, they had about a five minute montage dedicated to Ryan Dunn showing some of his stunts from the TV show and the other Jackass movies. I wondered why they ended the movie on such an unintentionally sad note. Why didn’t they weave these clips throughout the film instead of putting them in at the end? I know they were trying to pay homage to their tragically lost friend, but it was a real bummer to have that be the last note before the credits rolled.
Another thing that I found to be odd, and frankly, rude, was the exclusion of Bam Margera. Look, I’m not a fan of Bam, and I know that he has his issues, and has been involved in a tumultuous situation that involved Jeff Tremaine and Johnny Knoxville, but to not include any old footage of him at all just seemed like a dick move. In the movie, they showed old stunts from the TV show of all the guys. The clips didn’t even have a trace of Bam in them; it felt like they were trying to erase him from Jackass existence. Regardless of his personal issues with himself and those around him, he should’ve at least been recognized for his earlier contributions. It felt really petty.
The movie did have laughs and a lot of gross poop-filled gags. There were plenty of dongs out on display, many cringe-worthy moments, painful looking stunts and tricks, but it had the overwhelming sentiment of “been there, done that-ness” to it. Jackass Forever desperately tried to recapture the vivacity and shock value of the original series, but it fell short because it’s been seen and done hundreds of times over by the original crew and hordes of the imposters.
Apparently, the original guys are officially hanging up their hats and retiring from their jackass ways, and I hope that’s the case because it’s time. In fact, it was time to let it go ten years ago. So, even though Johnny Knoxville is still a stud, and the rest of the bunch made it seem like they were still game for the injuries and shenanigans, it’s long overdue for this franchise to be put out to pasture.
