Rating: 18
Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Jason Acuna, Ehren McGhehey, Preston Lacey and Zack Holmes
Directed by Jeff Tremaine
Written by Spike Jonze, Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, Eric Andre, Derrick Beckles, Andrew Weinberg, Colton Dunn, Knate Gwaltney and Sarah Sherman
Length: 96mins

For over two years there’s been a great deal of uncertainty over the future of local cinemas, but now, along with the help of one or two superhero movies, it seems that all was needed to return audiences to the big screen experience was a gang of foolhardy midwestern americans with a penchant for landing without style. ‘Jackass Forever’ may be the first film I’ve seen in a cinema where audiences laugh, groan and flinch in unity, with no other intention than to enjoy these madmen and women taking on increasingly unbelievable stunts.

As a Jackass film, it would be a hard sell for anyone who already knew it wasn’t for them, but there’s so much enjoyment to be gained from watching these group of excitable and carefree friends mess around on a scale that allows them the ability to essentially try out anything they like – a power that in the hands of the likes of Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O results in some mesmerisingly unbelievable footage. Their passion for taking off their clothes in front of the camera as well as their mates comes into its own in this latest film, resulting in some nail-bitingly tense scenes. Like the playground of a child’s imagination, ‘Jackass Forever’ allows its audience to bear witness to (as far as I know) the world’s first triple wedgie, body surfing and underwater farts being set alight. If you’re a zookeeper then you made need a word of warning, any requests from the Jackass guys to make use of your animals could lead to bears eating salmon from an electrified maniac, or a screaming Wee-Man desperately trying to avoid the bite of a falcon’s jaw as it devours the meat from his daringly small thong. It could almost sound as if the group are unkind to these animals, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, in a moment of hilarity, member Dave England proclaims that he’s a vegetarian, right after having been soaked in an unholy amount of pig semen.

Amongst the stunts, pranks, and general hi-jinks, ‘Jackass Forever’ provides a feeling that the group of hard nuts really do care for one another, and on the whole walk away from each inconceivably daring event with a smile on their faces, even when that departure from the set involves a stretcher and a fair few rolls of gauze tape. Aside from the newer – though equally as entertaining additions to the Jackass crew – the gang have been carrying out these wild escapades for a long while now, and know how to put on a good show. No scene throughout the film feels like filler, with each moment coming along at exactly the right time to deliver a new level of excitement, as well as perhaps a new chorus of winces from the audience. To see Johnny and Steve-O up on the big screen is something that a whole generation of Jackass-lovers have never been able to experience before, and now with restrictions lifting more and more, ‘Jackass Forever’ couldn’t have come at a better time to show the world that hanging out with your friends is still as fun as ever.

‘Jackass Forever’ is of course not for the faint of heart, but it’s still a great film to watch if you want to spend ninety minutes lost in a world of high energy madness. Truly, you have no idea what’s going next, and a lot of time neither do the poor souls on screen – but that’s all just part of the fun.