Directed by Jeff Tremaine, Jackass: Best and Last is a compilation film of stunts, skits, and pranks that is a mix of old and new footage, bringing back the biggest stunts and pranks from the franchise, as well as brand new ones, and never-before-seen footage for one last time.
Many years ago my dad introduced me to Jackass, starting with Jackass Number Two. I was instantly hooked and I ended up watching everything they have made in the 25 years they have been around. I’m fully aware that what these guys have done can be classified as dumb as f**k, gross beyond measure, and absolutely insane, but I can’t help but love them because they have always found ways to make me laugh my ass off and bring joy to me during several low points of my life. In a strange way, these guys have always been heroes to me, so I was definitely wanting to see their grand final chapter on the big screen with my Dad to experience them all one last time. For both of us, this final film was a truly hilarious blast from start to end, but for me it was also a heartfelt goodbye to my favorite band of lovable idiots. The combination of new skits mixed with old and unused ones creates the ultimate send-off that I was very pleased with and felt appropriate as their last film together.
The entire main cast of Jackass Forever returned for this film, with the exception of new cast member Eric Manaka, and as usual, they are all absolutely unhinged and hilarious in their final batch of stunts, skits, and pranks. Johnny Knoxville is unable to perform any major stunts himself due to his age and past injuries, but that doesn’t stop him from bringing absolute mayhem with his crazy ideas that the rest of the crew must endure torturously. Even when taking a bit of a back seat, he clearly was having a blast taking partial participation in the new skits and stunts just like audiences would, but you could also see he was getting frequently emotional knowing this is the last time the crew gets together to do this.
With it being the last time, the crew goes all out, putting their bodies on the line for some crazy acts of insanity, with Steve-O being the main MVP of the film as he had some of the most memorable stunts and skits. Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Danger Ehren, Poopies, Zach Holmes, Jasper Dolphin, Rachel Wolfson, and Compston “Dark Shark” Wilson all get their times to shine in this final film together and have a wild time doing so. Original cast member Bam Margera, who was unfortunately fired from the production of the last film, Jackass Forever and only appeared in one skit, only appears in this film through archive footage and the one skit that was originally cut from the last film. The cast also included the hilarious addition of Adam Ray, who voices and controls a robot called Larry.
This film primarily serves as a 25-year anniversary celebration of the entire franchise, bringing back the best bits of the TV show and previous films, along with brand new skits and never-before-seen footage that had not seen the light of day until now. If you are expecting this whole film to be only focused on the new stunts, then you will be disappointed, but I honestly don’t mind this since I loved reliving some of their best work from the previous films, and getting to see some of them on the big screen for the first time was very much worth it since I never saw some of them in theaters before.
While I would have loved the film to be longer and have more new footage included, I can completely understand that most of the crew is limited nowadays to what they can do due to their age and the amount of injures they received in the past having permanent effects on them. It was also interesting to see the skits that never got to be released because of how some of them were too extreme for MTV to air, showing just how much has changed in regards to what the public would accept nowadays compared to back then. There is definitely no shortage of laughter this film provides with new and old footage, but there is also plenty of emotion as a result of nostalgia and the fact that this was the last time we’d see the group on the big screen going forward, marking the end of an era.
On a technical level, all of the new stunts and crazy contraptions for skits are all as insanely fun as one would expect, and the crew does their best to go all out for this final film with the skits they do. Technology may have modernized, but these guys certainly haven’t, making for some truly hilarious moments of unhinged joy and chaos. This all ends up leading to the very final stunt of Jackass, which was a wonderful tribute to the first film’s opening, with the original cast members riding in a giant grocery cart, riding through several explosions.
Jackass has been a big part of my life for years, and while it is sad to see it end, I couldn’t think of a much better way to end things off for the group than this film. It is a beautiful love letter to fans that have stuck with them for 25 years of laughs that I am very grateful for, and I hope they all get to have the best lives possible going forward, no matter where they end up. I’m going to give Jackass: Best and Last an A = 97.
You can find more of my writing on instagram, and check out my channel on YouTube!