A One Mann’s Movies review of “Jackass: Best and Last”. (2026, 3.5*, 18).
I’m old and crusty enough that one of the top teatime shows on the TV when I was growing up was “Batman” with Adam West as the Caped Crusader/Bruce Wayne and Burt Ward as Robin/Dick Grayson. And such was the propensity for kids of my age to try to climb the walls of buildings and kill themselves that later shows featured the duo doing a serious prologue to camera, ahead of the programme. This was to remind kids that they did not possess their super-powers (or special effects) and not to try these things at home. (Curiously, none of these safety warnings seem to have existed on video: they were all taped over by the studios.)
This came back to me as the caption came up at the start of this latest, and allegedly, final Jackass film – “Jackass: Best and Last” – to not try and repeat any of these stupid things at home since they might just kill you!
I must admit that I only went to see this film because there was NOTHING left unwatched at any of my local cinemas. But, although it is at times utterly revolting, I did also laugh like a drain at many of the ludicrous antics of the Jackass team. And I also felt something I was seriously not expecting to get out of this film: being moved by some of the scenes. I think fans of the Jackass franchise will love this last outing.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
The Jackass team regroup to perform some new stunts, but also to look back at some of their ‘greatest hits’ and some unseen moments that were banned from the original TV show.
Certification:
UK: 18; US: R. (From the BBFC website: “Dangerous behaviour, strong crude humour, nudity”)
Talent:
Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jason ‘Wee Man’ Acuña, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Davon Wilson, Zach Holmes, Sean McInerney, Rachel Wolfson.
Directed by: Jeff Tremaine.
Written by: The Jackass team..
Running Time: 1h 32m.
Review:
Positives:
- These people are seriously deranged! That they would subject themselves to these tortures voluntarily is just absurd and Darwinian in its intent. But what comes through is a genuine love and camaraderie between this group of nutters who have grown up together (physically, if not mentally) and who genuinely love and care about each other. This is actually really touching. There’s a couple of moments in here when Johnny Knoxville seriously tears up at the thought that this is to be their last hoorah and I was quite moved with him. (Even though you know that it will be him coming down the nursing home staircase at full speed on a hostess trolley at the age of 85. “It’s how he would have wanted to go”!)
- The beginning and ending of this film are just so spectacularly done!
- The opening of the film seems to be done on a set where either the whole floor moves around or the whole set moves around on the studio floor. Everything is in brilliant white. It sees the whole Jackass crew (including the token woman, Rachel Wolfson, who never seems to do ANY stunts!) gliding in magically on a circular stage, everyone wearing white, everyone frozen motionless, as the camera pans around and introduces everyone in the team. It’s a really memorable effect! We then progress to lots of comic events like big boxing gloves emerging from walls to pummel faces and two naked fat blokes being squeezed between two enormous cactuses like the trash-compactor in “Star Wars”! This was all enacted to Bonnie Tyler, who died just this week, belting out “Holding Out For a Hero” in a nice, if unknowing, tribute.
- The finale sees the crew hurtling down a desert track in an enormous motorised shopping trolley towards the edge of a giant cliff with explosions and mayhem going off all around them. It’s completely over-the-top Michael Bay-style cinema, but it made me laugh like a drain!
- Some of the historical, banned, footage is utterly irresponsible, such as the first ever clip they recorded with Knoxville, wearing a Kevlar vest, shooting himself, as zero range, in the chest with a handgun. It really makes you wonder if he had something of a death wish and it is the sort of scene that gives this film its 18 certificate: this is not the sort of thing you want teenage TikTok influencers to see and copy. Steve O, who appears from his eyes to be habitually stoned in all of those early programmes, also engages in ludicrously dangerous stunts. It is quite astonishing that none of the team were killed performing some of the more extreme stunts although (as a clip from Knoxville’s space rocket stunt shows) there were some pretty close misses. (Ryan Dunn did die, in a fiery high-speed (~135mph) car crash in 2011, but not as a part of the show’s filming.)
- Any more of this and it would become tiresome, but the film wisely sticks to a 90 minute runtime.
Negatives:
- The team head for scatological humour many, many times, some of which is really disgusting. A reverse bungee of a Portaloo requires a strong stomach to watch and a laxative fuelled game of Twister is equally revolting, with cast and crew all barfing from the results. This is not a film to watch in 4DX or while you are eating your dinner!
- The “Best of” stunts shown tend to be much more extreme than the new stunts performed for this film: after all, Knoxville is 55 and any more encounters, like the one shown from “Jackass: Forever” between himself and a giant bull, might seriously prove fatal!
Summary Thoughts:
Many ‘grown-ups’ will view this film as childish and puerile. As indeed they should. But against my better judgment and expectations, I had a lot of fun in this one! I laughed a lot, I almost barfed a little, but came out of it feeling curiously uplifted at this group of friends having ridiculous fun and managing to not die in the process.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNwzFhGwA94. I note that there is quite a lot of the trailer footage that does not appear in the final film. There might be an extended ‘directors cut’ coming on the BluRay!
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