For those who have seen cKy and Jackass, there will be no new surprises with this movie. Around 50% of this film features stunts from ex-Jackass celebrities Steve-O, Wee Man, Chris Pontius and Preston Lacy intermingled with spoofs on popular TV shows such as Fear Factor and Cops. The first thing you realise when watching this film is that it looks cheap. Very cheap. The second thing you realise is that this in not so much a film, but an hour and a half long sketch show with some gags funnier than others. Much of the humour strangely focused on stereotypical Mexican culture and may be offensive to some, but if not, don't worry, the is plenty more to be offended by. The acting is sub-standard. While Steve-O and co. are stuntmen and skaters, they are not actors. This becomes evident in any scene involving Wee man, where he can't seem to deliver a line without a huge grin on his face. Pontius makes a good effort playing Jesus, unfortunately the writing is quite poor so he never has the chance to be really funny. One thing I did feel for this film was Pity. Pity for Steve-O. Its been well documented that Steve-O has had problems with alcohol and drugs, and in and out of rehab, but in this film you are wondering how much is real and how much is scripted. In several scenes it is very apparent he is intoxicated while he destroys his house, his belongings and several body parts. Worse still, the impression is given that this was encouraged by the filmmakers for some easy footage. It soon becomes depressing watching Steve-O slowly destroying himself on screen. The movie is attempting to parody modern day television and the MTV culture, but it turns out that they are just parodying themselves. In fact, one section is named 'The world's most pointless stunts' I can only concur. While I enjoyed Bam Margera's cKy series and Jackass, this offered nothing new. There have been countless spin-offs of the genre, and the material has become very tired. There is only so many clips of a guy throwing himself on a coffee table I can watch before I get bored. Even Steve-O complains he has been short of work. He should take this as a sign and get a job which doesn't involve bodily harm. The shows parodied in the film were very recent, which suggests in about 2 years the subject matter will be pretty dated. Some of the sketches (The Jackass doll sketch most notably) were pretty terrible, but admittedly there were some funny moments. The Mexican 'COPS' spoof was funny, but will probably be seen by some to be racist. 'XXXL,' A spoof on Triple-X starring Preston Lacy did offer some laughs, and is the closest thing to a proper movie that it gets. The only welcome surprise in this film was the appearance of Jason Mewes AKA Jay from the Kevin Smith movie world. But don't expect Smith's sharp comedy writing, again the poor scripting prevents Mewes from really having the chance to shine.
If you like Jackass and are determined to like this too, it is advisable to put your brain on stand-by, and you might come away with a smile on for face.
If you like Jackass and are determined to like this too, it is advisable to put your brain on stand-by, and you might come away with a smile on for face.