Before every installment of Jackass, whether on the small or big screen, there’s a warning, explaining that what you’re about to see are stunts performed by “professionals” and you shouldn’t try them for yourself.
Actually, the first and still-iconic warning said that “neither you nor your dumb little buddies should attempt anything” they see. That language has now been updated to be a bit more politically correct and legally protective (fingers crossed!), but the point remains: Jackass is the cinematic equivalent of watching your dumbest friends make catastrophically bad decisions — and then laughing because somehow everyone survives. No one should try to replicate what they see.
That, of course, is a tall order in these days of social media and endless “content,” when everyone is competing for eyeballs, and everyone is copying from other creators when they see something work. But so far, so good. For the most part.
Jackass, which first debuted as a TV show on MTV in 2000, pre-dated social media. Which means we’ve been laughing along with Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Dave England, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy, director Jeff Tremaine, and company for more than 25 years now.
Their latest big-screen installment — Jackass: Best and Last — serves as a gleefully stupid victory lap, a retrospective, and possibly a valedictory for this lovable gang of idiots.
A mix of classic clips and new stunts, the movie serves up the expected parade of crotch abuse, near concussions, animal encounters, bodily fluids, and a few instances of faces or hands (or Matchbox cars) ending up in other people’s backsides. The “best of” clips still land, and the new material (a mix of never-before-seen footage and brand-new shenanigans) proves that the gang hasn’t completely lost its appetite for pain. They may have less tolerance, but the commitment remains.
That said, while it’s fun to revisit bits like Jackass 3D’s “Poo Cocktail Supreme” — in which Steve-O, sitting in a full porta-potty, gets launched via bungee cords and shaken for a bit till he’s covered in feces — what’s funniest about the movie isn’t the stunts themselves. It’s watching the guys watch each other. Their uncontrollable laughter, horrified anticipation, and genuine delight at someone else’s terrible decision are what have always elevated Jackass beyond a simple gross-out compilation.
There’s an infectious joy in seeing Knoxville cackle while someone gets jolted by an electrical shock, or Wee Man completely lose it because a grown man just took another shot square to the family jewels, or everyone crack up because Ehren has reached his limit. (Again.) These guys have spent decades trying to outdo one another while simultaneously marveling that they’re somehow still alive to keep doing it.
(Yes, there’s one woman in the crew, Rachel Wolfson, but this time out, she’s just an extra with hardly anything to do but stand around and laugh.)
That camaraderie has always been Jackass‘s secret weapon. What looked like anarchy when the TV series debuted now feels strangely old-school. In an entertainment landscape dominated by carefully managed influencers and meticulously curated online personas, not to mention a cultural landscape where all the “bros” are afraid to show any emotion or display anything that isn’t tough masculinity, there’s something refreshing about a bunch of middle-aged goofballs risking life, limb, and dignity simply to make one another laugh, and not be afraid to expose themselves physically and emotionally in front of each other. It’s reckless, ridiculous, and, actually, kinda sweet.
(For the record, Knoxville — whose real name is P.J. Clapp — is 55 years old, Steve-O just turned 52, and Pontius will turn 52 next month. By comparison, Danny Glover was in his 40s when he said “I’m getting too old for this shit” in the Lethal Weapon movies.)
It’s also great to see Bam Margera back in the fold — via some of those “greatest hits” clips, anyway. He and Knoxville had a falling out during the production of the last film, 2022’s Jackass Forever. This tribute to the gang’s antics over the years would not feel complete without his (and his parents’) presence.
Of course, no one should mistake Jackass: Best and Last for high art. It’s dumb. It’s juvenile. It’s frequently disgusting. It’s also consistently hilarious.
If this really is the crew’s final bow (and somehow, I doubt it), they’ve earned it. After more than a quarter century of proving that getting hit in the face, in the crotch, or, really, anywhere, is timeless comedy, they’ve delivered one last reminder that, sometimes, making your buddies laugh really is the best.
But only if you’re a “professional.”
I’m giving Jackass: Best and Last a B+.
Martin's Musings 
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