Jackass: Best and Last - The End of an Era
- Matt Palmer
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
Jackass is an American media franchise built entirely around reality slapstick comedy, dangerous stunts, crude pranks, and painful shock humor. Originally created by Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze, the brand evolved from a controversial cult MTV series into a massive, multi-million dollar franchise spanning two decades.
Jackass: Best and Last is a loud, nostalgic and surprisingly bittersweet celebration of the franchise's final bow. Since the movie is roughly half brand new stunts and half greatest hits, unseen angles, and previously censored MTV footage, it really felt like a perfectly great tribute to their 25 years history.
For people who grew up with the franchise, the movie can hit a little deep as seeing the original crew (except for Bam in a bit of archival footage) alongside the newer cast members brought a massive wave of early 2000's nostalgia. The final Jackass movie delivers exactly what you expect - a hilarious, incredibly vulgar, nerve-wracking and completely unapologetic good time.
Just like the previous movies, there are some moments of Best and Last that really do stand out. In the opening credit sequence, the entire crew has to navigate through a custom obstacle course/escape room rigged with booby traps, an illusion where it looks like gravity is shifting as they stand in place and a rolling floor. It plays like a massive, explosive, high production value obstacle course that sets the chaotic tone immediately and is scored to Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero."
Other stand out moments include a segment featuring a couple cast members as human marionettes, a medical exam performed by a robot and a game of Twister that does get a little messy (let's just stick with that). There's also the ending that perfectly
mirrors the opening of the first movie that is entertaining, humorous and even a little moving for long-time fans. In fact, it actually ends the franchise perfectly with that ending.
Jackass: Best and Last has received an overall positive critical and audience response, currently an 89% Tomatometer score and 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (as of typing this review). Critics and fans widely agree that while the movie relies heavily on a 50/50 mix of nostalgic compilation footage and small-scale stunts, it serves as a highly emotional, laugh out loud, and fitting swan song for the 25 year old franchise!
Johnny Knoxville couldn't do any stunts that could've lead to a concussion in this movie, as in Jackass Forever (2022) he got broken rib, a broken wrist, a bad concussion and a brain hemorrhage during a stunt with a bull.
Johnny Knoxville said that this is the last Jackass movie, saying that "this is the natural place to end".
Like in Jackass Forever (2022), producer Spike Jonze once again directed the opening sequence of this movie. He also directed the ending sequence of this movie.
When Jackass (2000) 1st aired on MTV in October 2000, Johnny Knoxville was 29, Bam Margera was 21, Steve-O was 26, Ryan Dunn was 23, Chris Pontius was 26, Jason 'Wee Man' Acuña was 27, Preston Lacy was 31, Dave England was 30, and Ehren McGhehey was 23. When this movie released, Knoxville was 55, Bam was 46, Steve-O was 52, Dunn would've been 49, Pontius was 51, Wee Man was 53, Preston was 56, Dave England was also 56, and Ehren was 49.
Bam Margera was reportedly invited to the red carpet premiere of Jackass: Best and Last, but declined the offer, citing a prior commitment. Despite that, he said he still wants this movie to succeed. His parents, April Margera and Phil Margera, attended the event in his place.
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