Jackass The Movie film review

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JACKASS: THE MOVIE

"Warning: the stunts in this movie were performed by professionals, so neither you nor your dumb buddies should attempt anything from this movie". The disclaimer which bookends Jackass: The Movie, the feature-length version of MTV's outrageous stunt show, might seem completely redundant. After all, who in their right mind would want to copy these idiots and eat a snowball drenched in urine, or trampoline into a ceiling fan?

American teenagers, that's who, several of whom have ended up in A&E trying to emulate the escapades of gung-ho host Johnny Knoxville and his merry band of misfits. No doubt Britain will witness its own spate of reckless mimics, who risk life and limb to play the fool.

Jackass: The Movie is a film in the very loosest sense of the word: the running time exceeds 70 minutes and there is an assortment of characters (most of whom should be recommended for immediate psychiatric evaluation). However, there's no plot (Knoxville and co lost that long, long ago) or linear narrative: the film is essentially an extended episode of television series, only with more extravagant stunts and uncensored swearing and nudity.

On the small screen, the Jackass boys managed to shock and astound. For example, who can forget Knoxville sitting in a portaloo while it is rolled down a hill, then emerging drenched in urine and faeces? Other tasks were thankfully more tame (at least on the surface), like braving the full force of a fire hose head-on.

For their big screen debut, the pranksters spare no expense with their antics, which range from the ridiculous (strapping rocket fireworks to roller-skates and zooming down a hill at breakneck speed; dangling from a rope over a crocodile pit wearing a jockstrap stuffed with raw chicken) to the sublime (a bone-crunching banger car race using golf buggies; dressing up in giant panda suits and running amok on the busy shopping streets of Tokyo).

Some of the biggest laughs are courtesy of Bam Margera, who takes demonic delight in terrorising his parents. Firstly, he tries to get his prim and proper mother to swear on camera by unleashing a live crocodile in her kitchen; then he moves his attention to his father, setting up a hidden camera opposite the toilet to capture the moment when hundreds of fire crackers explode into life at the very moment Mr Margera attempts to answer the call of nature.