Jackass 2.5 (Review)

Jackass 2.5 is nothing more than a glorified dvd bonus feature that was released straight to dvd exactly one year after Jackass Number Two’s dvd release. The film is comprised of deleted material from the second film with interviews from the cast interspersed throughout making the feature a bit more like a documentary than the usual compilation of stunt footage, but thankfully the guys are pretty interesting to listen to. There was two movies worth of segments filmed for Jackass Number Two, and about 90% of the unused bits ended up on the extra features sections of that movie’s dvd. Almost all of that footage was as funny and well done as the footage that made it in the film, but most of what is shown in Jackass 2.5 are failed stunts or stuff that wasn’t noteworthy to begin with. There’s some pretty good stunts here like Bam’s ass kite, the obstacle course race and the gang riding mini bikes through a grocery store, but most of the stuff here is fairly mediocre and forgettable and of course Dave England has to keep taking a shit on camera much to the disgust of everyone. I thought Jackass 2.5 was pretty good. It’s not as incredible of a comedy outing as its theatrical counterparts, but there is enough funny material in the film's brief run-time to give it a look.

Jackass Number Two (Review)

Jackass: The Movie was intended to be the finale of the Jackass series. Afterwards Bam Margera and his crew went on to star in their own spin-off series, Viva La Bam, while Chris Pontius and Steve-o did a spin-off of their own called Wildboyz. Several years later, both shows ran their course and Jackass headman Johnny Knoxville decided on a whim to reunite the crew and do another movie. Jackass Number Two progresses exactly the same as the first movie in that it’s comprised of a series of stunts and pranks with no plot. Everything about this second feature is bigger and better than the first, from the stunts and jokes and even the technical quality of the film itself.

The TV series and initial film featured a lot of the guys pulling pranks on the unsuspecting public, but since then the cast has become more recognizable so almost all of the segments here are the guys inflicting punishment on each other. The only time the public gets involved is when Johnny and one other guy don prosthetics and poses as old people. These bits start off funny but get a bit repetitive each time they pop up. The stunts preformed this time around are just hilarious from the guys having a medicine ball fight in the dark, Bam Margera getting several things put on or up his ass, Johnny trying to catch an anaconda in ball pit, or the really bizarre song and dance finale. The only real bad skit is watching Dave England take a shit…again…its just not funny. That bit aside, I can’t find anything remotely bad about the film. It’s not high art, but I’m up for a Jackass 3 if they ever make it.

Jackass: The Movie (Review)

Every teenage boy has one. That R-rated movie that they're too young to see and no matter how much you beg and plead, your parents just won't allow you to see it. Jackass: The Movie was my one. I was a big fan of the Jackass television show and I was 14 when the series hit the big screen and I kept holding out hope that my parents would let me see it, but to no avail. I finally bought the dvd about 2 years later and found it to be well worth the wait. For the uninitiated, Jackass was a popular MTV show that ran for about 3 years. Johnny Knoxville and his group of frat boy-esque friends performed various dangerous, disgusting, and hilarious stunts or pranks. The show faced the expected controversy of having brain-dead teenagers attempt the stunts that show warns people not to try, but it wasn't enough to stop Jackass from becoming one of the MTV's most popular shows.

Jackass makes the transition to the big screen flawlessly, this is largely because the show was nothing more than a bunch of random segments and the movie is just as much. Just like the show there is no plot or no script, it's all just pure idiocy at its best. With the exception of the opening and closing credit sequence, the actual technical quality of the film is only a slight fraction better than show, at best. The only real difference is that since the film isn't confined by rules of television, the cast knew they could get away with doing stunts they could never do on the show. So, we get a couple of stunts that are more dangerous and crude than usual, like Johnny trying rocket roller skates, Steve-o and Chris Pontius firing fireworks from their anus and groin respectively, and Bam Margera trying to get his mom to say fuck in addition to plenty of unblurred male ass running about. This crew of pranksters just keep on dreaming up more elaborate ways to punish themselves and it just gets funnier as the film goes along. Some of the stunts are a little too much like the paper cut bit or the incredibly unneeded segment were Dave England poops in a department store display toilet, but the good bits far out weigh the bad. The end result is a collection of some of the best physical comedy available. It's not smart, it's not witty, it's just solid entertainment.