Jackass Number Two (2006)

Jackass Number Two brings you more madcap antics and heartfelt stunts from your favourite ‘professionals’ in the business with a couple of special guests.

Soft music plays. The Ecstasy of Gold, taken from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack plays to a misty street. There’s something haunting, yet calm about this suburbanite area empty and filled with a powdery smoke. Slowly, shadows form and the smoke starts to swirl and shift. It’s not long before the darkened figures become people and we see the architects of destruction, the common man in over his head, the self sacrificing space monkey; the Jackass Crew.As the full orchestra begins to fade in, the boys’ faces twist and contort, as they push forwards with every fibre of their being. Their mouths wide open push out a silent scream which is eerily echoed by the introduction of a chorus before finally, we see why they’re running. Hot on their heels are a herd of bulls. The music speeds up, the slow-mo dies down and everyone runs for their lives.
This is stupidity at its prime perfection.
This is non-stop pain.
This is Jackass.

The great thing about Jackass Number Two is that it can’t really fail. There’s no such thing as bad acting because it’s all real. The camerawork is beautifully handheld most of the time which means that cinematography is vivid and real. And music? To hell with classical masterpieces. Beethoven’s 5th doesn’t really say much about the pain these guys are feeling now, does it? The only possible way that this film could be crap is if the stunts were rubbish or boring. I think it’s fair to say that they aren’t.

You really couldn’t get cruder if you tried. Rectal bleeding happens at least twice in the first 10 minutes or so and that’s nothing. Prosthetics to make you look old is nothing new in Jackass but wondering around a busy town looking like a naked 75 year old woman sure as hell is. There are a few stunts throughout the film that nobody even has any faith in and if the people who choreographed them only see pain in the future, what else can we anticipate?
With swearing, nudity (real as well as prosthetic) and lots of blood (kudos to Knoxville for the ball pit skit) it’s a fool proof formula. Many of the skits feel increasingly retarded, such as tying midget Wee-Man Acúna to resident fatman Preston Lacy and have Wee-Man jump off a bridge, but no matter what, just about every sketch ends in complete hilarity.

Pulling off a hilarious prank may not be as easy as it seems. Given a moments thought based on the funniest scenes, it’s apparent a lot of careful planning and thought went into this film. The funniest parts are definitely the bits that were given considerable thought as opposed to the improvised public pranks that crop up every now and then. They’re still very funny, but not a patch on the others.

A film (or even the prior show) such as this may be frowned upon by many people (outspoken critics calling it hideous are duly noted) but it’s nice to know that there are some individuals willing to put their health on the line for our entertainment.
On top of that though, one thing that seems insane is that they continue to think up and act out these increasingly painstaking stunts and yet they still manage to draft in celebrities such as Matt Hoffman and Tony to help out. Ok, so they may not be A-list celebrities, but they’re well known throughout their field.
As was evident by the first scene, the crew also aren’t above enlisting the help of animals to achieve the desired effect whether it is hilarity, fear or general shock. Sharks, fish, yak, bulls, leeches, bees, horses and snakes (lots of snakes) are used frequently and just about each and every time, it results in pain.

You have to give kudos to the Jackass crew (not just because of their bravado or ability to continue) but because of the amount of wit that’s used before, after and sometimes during a stunt. Usually, there are jokes made about the lack of trust throughout the group. They may be friends, but it’s only natural that trust is low and diminished. What trust there is feels like too much, given the nature of the crew and their ability to take advantage of each other.

In the end, whilst it’s easy to pass Jackass Number Two off as retarded and juvenile, most of the skits are quite clever and it shows that with a little effort (and a lot of blood) just about most anything can be entertaining.Jackass Number Two may be a film about self torture, but if you like the rest of the crews material, or are new to the idea, it’s certainly worth a chance.

4/5