(Credit: Entertainment Weekly)
As a send-off and epilogue to the elaborate, disgusting and gloriously unhinged war of escalating frat-house hazing rituals and painful shocks to the genitals: the movie does a fairly good job. It has a lot of affection for these lovable goofball idiots, and acts essentially as a clip show and look back at their best stunts, with a couple of new ones thrown in for good measure. I could have done with more of the new stuff, and some more screen time for the newer members (Poopies and Rachel Wolfson are absolute treasures, and apparently a wet-suit stunt involving the two of them was cut, I'm fuming), but what's here is funny, and I got a little glee from hearing Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius and Steve-O reminisce on the old times and how they'd be having to hang up their hats this time around, I'll miss this sort of lunacy. They've grown older with their audience, and as gross and disgusting and purile as their actions are, it's ultimately not done in any mean-spirited nastiness, and there is a primal glory to seeing this happen: I cannot pretend that I was too good to laugh at grown men drinking enema-inducing laxatives and proceeding to play Twister. As I said: I wish there was more of the newbies and new skits (though the "Escape Room from Hell" and the side-splitting "Marionette Theatre" capture the series' spirit wonderfully, and had me crying) or that we had a more pensive, soulful reflection like in part 4, or even that Rachel Wolfosn and Poopies and Zack-Ass got more stuff to do; I understan that this was a send off to the gang, and it works. I'm happy for them, we even get unused footage of Bam Margera, and Johnny Knoxville's first stunt which landed him the "Jackass" gig. It comes full circle with a bigger, louder re-enactment of the famous shopping trolley sequence of the first film, and has a sense of finality to it. I'm happy for the gang.
I'm not a big "clip show" guy, but still laughed, it's fun.
The opening sequence, wherein everybody bedecked in white suits enacts a violent prank-fuelled rendition of the "Virtual Insanity" music video done to "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonie Tyler (a sentence I had to type: I'm so happy she's out of her coma, good job Queen!) is, free of hyperbole, actually inspired creative genius. It's my favourite intro for these movies, and favourite opening credits I've seen in a long, long, long time. The movie never matches that impeccable standard set by that (and I get to hear Johnny Knoxville say that line one... last... time...)
Here's to you, gang.
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