JACKASS FOREVER

You know that feeling you get when you meet up with old friends you haven't seen in a while and everything just clicks? That's the exact feeling you'll get when going to see Jackass Forever, the latest outing for Johnny Knoxville and his ragtag crew of absolute nutters who put themselves in harms way for our entertainment.

It's been 12 years since the Jackass team's last cinematic outing and now, with a few new faces along for the chaos, they're back with pranks, stunts and displays of phallic disregard for one last hurrah.

There's no denying that the formula for the Jackass franchise is as basic as they come however, that's really what makes it such a fun time out at the cinema. You know exactly what you are getting with these guys, and even girls now with Rachel Wolfson joining the bunch of new recruits who give as good as the rest in a flurry of incredibly gnarly stunts and pranks.

It's an absolute blast to experience with a packed audience, laughs coming thick and fast as each segment flies by. It's not even just the stunts that hit the funny bones either, reactions from each of the crew being just as good as the stunts themselves at times. As always with these films, the Jackass crew do a really great job in making the audience feel like part of the group. Lucky enough the pranks are left on the screen and don't make their way into the audience.

They definitely don't shy away from making this one as random as ever, the bear encounter being one of the most intense sequences we've ever had in one of these films, while phallic jokes are aplenty here with Steve-O attaching a hive of bees directly to his genitals and Chris Pontius, who has never been ashamed to put his manhood in the way of danger, takes centre stage in what will surely become an infamous opening sequence that pays homage to kaiju movies in just about the most Jackass way possible.

Johnny Knoxville leads the crew once again with a total disregard for health and safety, which is always entertaining but it's Danger Ehren, a member of the old guard, who serves as the film's MVP. Ehren seems hell bent on crushing his genitals and his commitment to having them tested to the absolute limit is something to be weirdly admired. The man is tortured throughout and his facial expressions, from the many hits to the nuts to staring a bear right in the face were absolutely slaying the audience.

Yes, I'm a fan of Jackass so this might be one hell of a biased review but they don't make these films for anyone else but the fans and that should be applauded. Jackass Forever is an ode to stupidity and violence that serves as the perfect tonic in these times. 

Verdict: ★★★★