“Hi, I’m Johnny Knoxville, welcome to Jackass!”
What an iconic introduction. How much more do you need to know? This man named Johnny Knoxville, of all things, harkening a kind of grimy carnival barker vibe and telling you you’re about to experience something called Jackass. Never has one man been so perfectly aligned with the very thing he is known for – being a Jackass.
Jackass Forever, the latest in the long-running series of Jackass movies based on the MTV show of the same name, doesn’t try to mess with the formula much. Basically, get a bunch of friends (mostly men) together, set up stunts and pranks that often result in some kind of terrible injury, laugh your asses off. Repeat! The sky’s the limit, as long as the insurance policy is affordable.
Nearing their 20th year of Jackassery (Jackass the TV show debuted in 2002), Knoxville, Steve-O, Pontius, and friends are making it clear that it’s probably the injuries and not their age that have slowed them down – which makes it even funnier and right in the Jackass ethos that a 49 year old Knoxville, with shocking gray hair, would be shot out of a cannon while wearing feathery wings. With every bit of raucous laughter, these guys are commiting to growing older while never truly growing up, and we are all right there with them.
