Jackass: The Movie Movie Review:


MTV Films rolls out their controversial film Jackass: The Movie, which is based on the popular ex-TV series. The concept of the Jackass series stays the same in the film with Johnny Knoxville and his crew performing a bunch of dangerous, stupid, and disturbing stunts just to do them. The crew actually does the stunts more so for laughs, but with this feature version, they are able to go the extremes and even at times overboard.

The film is sickly gross and disturbingly hilarious to watch. You feel dirty and wrong for laughing at this group of idiots for the things that they do. I will say that I am a fan of the Jackass television series, and I did enjoy this movie. All of the fans of the show will like this cruder film version, but this is not a film for everyone.

From crashing golf carts, playing with alligators, to shooting bottle rockets from their anuses, the crew of Jackass does it all in this film. Though some of the shocking stunts are funny, due to the fact that the crew had more freedom with the film than the TV series, some of the stunts go way overboard. The overboard examples of the film I don't even want to talk about. I will just say that the crewmembers in the film were throwing up and as an audience member I cringed at the moments and felt nauseated as well. The guys of Jackass do some absolutely idiotic stuff, in which the film becomes like watching an unedited extended episode from the television series. The structure of the film is just snippets and there is absolutely no plot, just absurdity.

Though I enjoyed Jackass: The Movie and the television series, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the film and the stunts. When the show was first becoming known on MTV, Johnny Knoxville performed a stunt called "The Human Bar-BQ" in which he lit himself on fire. Shortly after, I read about a family suing MTV and Jackass because their son lit himself on fire after watching the show. So I will say this, PARENTS DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN OR TEENAGERS WATCH THIS FILM. The crew is somewhat professional idiots and they make very dangerous stunts look funny. In my opinion, Jackass: The Movie should have been rated NC-17 for its content, and there are warnings about the stunts before the film begins. Shivers went through me when a young man in the crowded theater I saw the film yelled, "I'm going to do that," after one of the stunts was performed in the film.

Last week, a woman sued MTV and Jackass over being injured by a crewmember during one of their stunts. I have no idea what has come of the case, but I hope that I never again have to read an article of someone being hurt or hurting themselves after mimicking a Jackass stunt.

Outside of the controversy and scares, I think that Jackass is darkly amusing. The crew is absolute idiots that just deliver gross-out; hardheaded reality stunted humor. The movie itself will be a treat for fans of the TV show, and a nightmare of trash for others. Though the film should have been rated NC-17 and is one of the grossest films to ever hit the screen, it is still an insanely, idiotically crude ride.

Report Card Grade: B-

10/25/02
Copyright

Joseph C. Tucker

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