Going to the cinema to see a Jackass film is the pinnacle of the movie-going experience and one of the rare occasions where you don’t care how many people are talking throughout the film, because they’re all sharing the same emotions as you while watching the absolute chaos unfold on screen.
Jackass: Best and Last feels like the end of an era and serves as the culmination of a group of friends getting together and performing crazy stunts, with drugs and alcohol helping to fuel the absolute mayhem in the early years that eventually turned into a cultural phenomenon.
What Best and Last does is take some old archive footage and sprinkle in a few new stunts along the way, creating a film that feels familiar yet fresh at the same time.
If you’re as big a Jackass fan as I am, most of the archive footage shown throughout the film certainly isn’t the never-before-seen material that’s claimed in the marketing. Aside from a terrifying introduction starring a young Johnny Knoxville and a handful of other clips, most of the footage featured comes from older Jackass films or clips that have been circulating online for years.
Because of this, Best and Last feels more like a greatest-hits celebration than anything particularly new or groundbreaking. While it’s fun seeing the older cast members doing a few crazy things here and there, they never quite hit the heights of the younger—and considerably dumber—stunts featured throughout the movie.
I’m quite surprised this film got a cinematic release because, while it’s fantastic, there doesn’t seem to be enough new footage here to justify a full feature-length production. That said, I’m glad it did, because getting into a cinema with your buddies and watching the chaos unfold is what Jackass is all about. I’m just surprised by how much recycled content made its way into the final product.
Cutting between old and new footage, it was great seeing Bam Margera as part of a Jackass movie again. It felt like something had come full circle. It was also quite emotional seeing old Ryan Dunn footage included as a tribute to the late daredevil, who tragically passed away in a car accident back in 2011.
What I found unusual, however, was just how underutilised Rachel Wolfson was. She literally stood around, didn’t get involved, and contributed almost nothing to the film beyond being the only female cast member. If she got paid to be in this film, I’d be gobsmacked. Not only did she barely participate in any stunts beyond a small role in the incredible opening sequence, but she also had very few lines and seemed to do little more than react to other cast members getting stuck in. It was a very strange creative choice, and a real shame considering how underused she was.
Jackass: Best and Last is f**king amazing and laugh-out-loud funny, but by the time the credits roll there’s also a genuine emotional resonance that solidifies this film as the end of an era.
I grew up watching Jackass, and while audiences today may not have the same sense of humour as many of us ’90s kids—and might not understand the comedy behind a cast taking laxatives and wearing poop suits while playing Twister—there’s something undeniably nostalgic about it all. When the credits roll and the music kicks in, so too does the realisation that this truly may be the last Jackass film we see on the big screen.
As a Jackass fan, you may find yourself scratching your head over how much old footage has been recycled here, but reliving it all on the big screen never gets old and perfectly captures what the Jackass experience is all about.
Grab a couple of buddies, get a couple of drinks, and just sit back and watch this gross-out insanity unfold on the big screen. A generation defined, and the final curtain call on a very crazy time in all of our lives. We’ll most likely never see anything like it again, and that’s a damn shame.
Jackass Best and Last is a film about guys doing crazy stuff with and without clothes but beyond all of the absurdities it’s about friendship and brotherhood and whilst some folks are just bystanders in this film watching the chaos unfold, you can take nothing away from the bond they all have between them.
Whilst Jackass on this occasion wasn’t the best, it was most certainly the last.
Our Rating
Summary
A movie you just have to go and see with your buddies, it’s crazy, it’s fun and it’s a Jackass movie so it needs to be seen on a big screen in a room full of strangers.
Whilst featuring a LOT of recycled footage Jackass Best and Last does feel like it’s run out of ideas but it doesn’t make the new stuff any less funny. It’s frantic, chaotic and f**king amazing I just wish they did more new stuff without relying on an extensive back catalogue to pad out this hilarious final instalment.
