Before Jackass became a movie franchise, before the elaborate theatrical stunts, before the legacy, it was this weird little MTV series where a bunch of guys who seemed like stoners, skaters, maniacs, or all of the above would do wildly disgusting, dangerous, and deeply stupid things in the name of laughter. It sometimes seemed too dumb to defend.
Then, somehow, it became captivating. The joy was undeniable.
Then came the first movie, which somehow elevated the stakes, the pain, the stunts, and the commitment. Then another. Then a third. After a long break came Jackass Forever, where time had passed, the bodies had changed, but the spirit was still alive and well. Now comes Jackass: Best and Last, where that spirit is as strong as ever, but the bodies these devoted entertainers have risked for decades are showing the cost.
The Painful Joy Of Looking Back
What gives Jackass: Best and Last more emotional weight than I expected is how much of the film relives the past. At first, that sounds like a clip show concern. It is not. The archival material becomes the emotional structure. It shows how far the stars and the team have come. It also shows how far they have fallen, bounced, bled, laughed, healed, and somehow gone back for more.
Seeing those old bits again also makes you appreciate the genius inside the formula. Yes, Jackass is often someone getting hit in the balls, falling off something, gagging on something, or being subjected to a level of bodily horror that makes you question everyone’s insurance coverage. But each new experiment has real craft behind it. There is setup. There is misdirection. There is timing. There is escalation. There is often a beautifully stupid punchline made of flesh, gravity, panic, and friendship.
The nostalgia works because it is not just asking you to remember the laugh. It asks you to remember the people who gave you the laugh, then shows you what that giving cost them. The bumps, scars, age, hesitation, and smarter voices saying “maybe do not do this” all add something unexpectedly moving. The fact that they still want to do it, even when their bodies and common sense are begging otherwise, is absurd. It is also wonderful.
Idiot Brotherhood As Real Love
Even more than nostalgia, what keeps Jackass from feeling like something you could just scroll past on social media is the love. Not ironic love. Not bro-coded branding love. Real, unbridled, heterosexual love between men who have absolutely nothing to prove to each other.
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This franchise has always existed in a strange space. Anal insertions, penis slaps, exposed bodies, humiliation, and physical vulnerability are everywhere, yet there is no homophobia in the spirit of it. That matters. The joke is not “being gay is funny.” The joke is usually “we are idiots, this is ridiculous, and I trust you enough to let this happen.” That is a massive difference, and any purveyor of comedy should understand it.
There is something genuinely beautiful about watching men be this comfortable with each other. They cheer each other on. They worry about each other. They laugh when someone gets destroyed, then immediately check if that person is alive. They can be gross, naked, terrified, injured, affectionate, and supportive without masculinity shattering into dust. Dare I say, this might be one of the highest forms of masculinity. Not because it is tough, though it often is. Because it is vulnerable.
Jackass Has Mastered The Mad Science Of Stupid
People love to dismiss Jackass because it looks easy. That is lazy. The entire franchise runs on a kind of mad science. It studies the body, fear, shame, pain, surprise, and social discomfort, then turns all of that into a controlled blast of laughter. It is primal. It hits the same ancient part of the brain that reacts to someone slipping on a banana peel, except the banana peel is on fire, there is a bull nearby, and someone is definitely going to throw up.
Jackass: Best and Last understands that legacy. It knows the formula is simple, but simplicity is not the same as lack of craft. The best bits work because the team understands anticipation. You know something awful is coming. They know you know. Then the waiting becomes part of the joke. The dread is the drumroll.
That is why Jackass still matters. It is not highbrow. It does not need to be. It is direct, physical, disgusting, generous comedy. It gives the audience joy, disgust, awe, secondhand pain, and release. There is real creativity in that, and I do not think it needs to be defended beyond pointing at the decades of laughter it created.
A Farewell That Leans A Little Heavy On The Past
My main critique is that the film is heavier on past content than new material. It feels about 60/40, with the majority leaning toward retrospective. I understand why. If this really is the end, the film needs that emotional journey. It needs to show the road behind them before saying goodbye.
Still, I wanted a bit more from the newer cast. They clearly have the spirit. They are willing, game, and insane enough to belong in this world. But the film does not fully showcase their creativity and ingenuity. That absence makes the “last” part feel more final than hopeful. Instead of feeling like the torch is being passed, it feels like the torch is being raised one last time before someone responsibly puts it out, probably after lighting someone’s pants on fire.
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That is not a fatal flaw. It may even be the point. But it is noticeable. If the movie had given the newer cast a little more room to prove they could invent the next wave of chaos, the goodbye might have felt less absolute.
If This Is The End for Jackass, It Is A Good One
Jackass is not for everyone. It never has been. For many, though, it is mind-numbing content that hits primal joy buttons with terrifying accuracy. It makes you laugh, gag, wince, and sometimes wonder what is wrong with you for enjoying it. That is part of the deal.
If it is not for you, that is fine. Just leave it at that. Not everything needs to be explained into respectability. Not everything needs prestige wrapping paper. Some things are brilliant because they are exactly what they are. Jackass is brilliant in its own right.
I do hope there is more, because I genuinely think the world benefits from Jackass. Not because the world needs more injuries, but because it needs more shared laughter, more ridiculous vulnerability, and more reminders that joy can be stupid, gross, painful, and still pure. But if Jackass: Best and Last really is goodbye, it is a wonderful one.
For their service, their embodiment of heterosexual love, and their years of joy, shock, disgust, and awe, I give Jackass: Best and Last an 8/10.
Jackass: Best and Last is best experienced with other people, preferably a crowd that understands the assignment. Watch it with friends who will laugh too loud, groan at the same time, and yell at the screen when someone makes a choice no doctor would ever approve. Whether in a theater or at home, this is communal chaos. The laughs hit harder when everyone is suffering together.
Johnny Knoxville and the gang return for one final fling at the big screen. Featuring all-new stunts and stupidity along with the greatest hits and biggest laughs from the past, Jackass: Best and Last is a joyously raucous celebration of all the mischievous camaraderie that you’ve come to love and expect from these idiots over the past 25 years.
Ready to say goodbye to the beautifully stupid brotherhood of Jackass: Best and Last? Which classic bit still lives rent-free in your brain? Do you think this should truly be the end, or does the world still need more controlled idiocy? Who from the new cast would you want to see carry the torch? Comment below or @me.
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