‘Jackass Forever’: Johnny Knoxville and Crew Are Back With Old (and New) Stunts

Sandra Miska

The world has changed greatly since 2000, the year the “Jackass” series debuted on MTV, but some things stay the same, and Johnny Knoxville and the goons are up to much of the “same stupid shit” in their fourth feature, “Jackass Forever.” Age, sobriety and the pandemic have done little to slow down Steve-O, Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, Dave England, Chris Pontius, Preston Lacy, Ehren McGhehey and the rest of the old guard that appears here, while new faces like Sean “Poopies” McInerney, Zach Holmes, Davon Wilson, a.k.a. Jasper Dolphin, and Eric Manaka, the latter two being the first Black performers in the main crew, and Rachel Wolfson, the first female Jackass, breathe new life into the franchise.

The epic opening of “Jackass Forever” more than prepares the viewer for what to expect for the rest of the film, and that is plenty of real human male genitalia and loads of fake and animal semen. Chris Pontius’ penis is transformed into Godzilla, and with some movie magic and help from producer Spike Jonze, made to look like it is terrorizing the rest of the gang and some helpless extras on the New York set on the Paramount lot, and Tony Hawk is thrown in there for good measure. But that’s not even the craziest bit to involve a penis. Later, Steve-O has a gag where he attaches a queen bee in a secure container to his penis, and, well, one can guess what happens next, but you’re probably not mentally prepared for it.

While a lot of the gags from “Jackass Forever” are recycled, they up the ante when it comes to certain ones. While seeing the guys get hit in the testicles is nothing new, and the seemingly endless shots of them doubled over in pain do get tiresome, they get creative in an updated version of “Cup Test,” which involves a guy wearing an athletic cup and getting kicked in the nether regions. This time, McGhehey finds himself getting hit in the “ding-ding” by a punch from UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou, a speeding puck by hockey player P.K. Subban, and a pogo stick. And that’s not even the scariest gag McGhehey is at the center of. That one involves him being trapped with a bear, some honey and salmon.

Some of the best bits in the film are the ones involving unsuspecting individuals getting put through the ringer while hidden cameras record everything. Poopies and Holmes are hazed in a hilarious bit involving them being locked in a dark room and led to believe that there is a poisonous snake in the vicinity. Knoxville is up to his old hijinks as “Bad Grandpa” Irving when some unsuspecting furniture store employees watch him being catapulted into a ceiling. Knoxville also frustrates a poor woman in another bit in which he’s a construction worker in distress. Although “Jackass Forever” also features Eric André, who was memorably sodomized by a fake gorilla in last year’s hidden camera feature “Bad Trip,” he is tragically underutilized here.

A lot of humor is also milked out of the reactions of those who are outsiders here. Dark Shark, the ex-con father of Jasper Dolphin, proves to be a good sport during gags involving possibly dangerous animals. A camera operator, an older gentleman, earns our sympathy when he finds himself vomiting into his mask, first when he sees McGhehey injured testicles, and, later, when Lacy accidentally soils himself during a failed bit. Then there’s musician and tabloid fixture Machine Gun Kelly, who doesn’t know what he’s in for when he finds himself up against Steve-O in a competition involving exercise bikes and a freezing pool.

Overall, “Jackass Forever” leaves longtime fans with a warm and fuzzy feeling. While it may be a lot of the same, there’s something oddly comforting about that, and that these men, who are now of a certain age, are not only still friends but also are still enthusiastic about lighting their farts on fire and watching each other climb out of exploding porta potties. Although this is, of course, a lighthearted film, original Jackass Ryan Dunn, who died in a car accident in 2011 at age 34, is not forgotten, as the film ends with a tribute to him.

“Jackass Forever” releases Feb. 4 in theaters nationwide.