Jackass started life as a TV show on MTV that ran for three seasons. Once the show was cancelled, there was an idea to make a sort of farewell for Jackass and that would be this movie. Jackass: The Movie was released in 2002 and bring new life to Jackass instead of being the intended farewell. The film stars the regular Jackass crew consisting of Johnny Knoxville, Wee Man, Ryan Dunn, Dave England, Preston Lacy, Bam Margera, Ehren McGhehey, Chris Pontius, and Steve-O. Critics were mixed on this film upon release which really comes as no surprise. The film was a commercial success as it mad around $79 million against a $5 million budget.
This film has no plot. Basically a bunch of guys go around and doing pranks and stunts that will either make you laugh, make you cringe, or make you vomit.
I get it, Jackass is not for everybody. It is incredibly stupid and crude. There is nothing really smart about the humor but that is not what this film was trying to do. What this film promised on, it most certainly delivered. Jackass is not trying to appeal to a new crowd but trying to give fans even more. The concept of putting the show on TV has possbilities. (For the record, I have not seen the TV show). That being, putting stuff in the movie that you typically would not see on TV. Now I have a really strange DVD of this film in that it has this backwards type of case and what not and upon doing research on this oddity, I could find nothing on it. Strange. Honestly, reviewing a film like this is really different for me because, well it just is. There is nothing bad that I can find about this film to be honest so it is like I have to give this film a ten star rating. First off, yes, I laughed when a stunt warranted a laugh. Do I feel bad about laughing at people in pain? Not really to be honest. I mean, they are doing it for laughs and stuff. Did I cringe in the stunts that might have been too painful to watch? Yes I did. Did I want to throw up at the really gross stuff? Not as much as others, but yes. That is what Jackass does really well here. The cast is memorable and you can either see them as a bunch of no name idiots or a group of friends with names doing stupid stuff to make us all laugh. I do sense the friendship and the camaraderie amongst these people at the end of the day. With that being said, I just cannot seriously give this film a ten star rating. Even if I did I am missing out on the opportunity to at least address a flaw that somewhat bothered me in this film. There is a stunt or prank that was filmed in Tokyo, Japan. One stunt involves the cast dressing up as panda bears. Which at first I was like, Pandas do not live in Japan. That is not entirely PC. But upon doing research, there are in fact pandas in Japan but they are not native. Hoping that clears things up.
Jackass: The Movie is not for everybody. But if you are like me, you will find it entertaining enough. It is one of those, love it or hate it type of movies. There is no in between. I cannot bring myself to give this film a ten star rating so how about a seven.
