After twelve years, Jeff Tremaine and Johnny Knoxville are back with Jackass Forever, breaking bones and providing more of the low-brow comedy that started on MTV. While the film constitutes the same material as ever, the pseudo-maturity of the creators and players combined with some genuinely clever new stunts make it the best entry in the series.
The concept behind Jackass isn't a difficult one, a bunch of friends doing extreme stunts and pranks. Audiences tend to fall into the "love it or hate it" category. Those that fall into the latter aren't going to find anything new or eye-opening here. Those who love it are likely to see this as the funniest of the series. Some of the stunts are repeats of previous ones gone wrong, or they ones that the creators felt might have a different impact twenty years later (most notably, the final one with Knoxville as the victim). But there are several new ones, and Tremaine, Knoxville, and company have outdone themselves in these. There is sometimes a sense of the slapstick comedies of the 1920s and '30s, but with a modern, extreme twist.
It is nice to see that almost all the living cast members are still involved, despite approaching age fifty. It's clear that their friendships have endured over the years, and there is a sense that what you see on camera is much like they are with each other off-camera. This is one of the things that make Jackass endure and remain humorous. The exception is Bam Margera, who could not return to filming after an extended break in filming, although he does appear in one scene.
To round out the reduced crew, several new stunt team members are present. While some appear to be there for the sake of inclusiveness, this doesn't mean the studio couldn't utilize them more organically later. Two of the new members, Zach Holmes and Sean "Poopies" McInerney, take the brunt of several stunts, seeming to take the place of Margera and the deceased Ryan Dunn. The level of their suffering, particularly for Poopies, falls somewhere in-between initiation and hazing. Even though this is supposed to be the final Jackass entry, adding the six new performers leaves the door open for more.
The movie will not be the darling of any award season, but its absurdity may make it the perfect form of tension release audiences need right now. Although the original team is aging, if the film works, the new crew increases the possibility that Jackass could go on forever.