The boys are back at it, more repulsive and reckless than ever.
In 2002, the crew of MTV’s cult hit TV show Jackass brought the premise to the mainstream with Jackass The Movie. The result was utter disgust from the critical community at large (a sticking point used in the promotions of the sequel) and massive box office success for a film that didn’t cost a whole lot to make. Fans of the series loved the movie and newcomers discovered the wild, death-defying, disgusting antics of Johnny Knoxville and his band of troublemakers.
Now, a few years have passed and the group has split off into their own projects. Johnny Knoxville sought and achieved mainstream acting success starring in Dukes of Hazzard, A Dirty Shame and Walking Tall, to name just a few. Chris Pontius and Steve-O launched another successful MTV series entitled Wildboyz, basically taking the Jackass ideal global. Bam Margera launched another successful MTV show called Viva La Bam, which followed the adventures of Bam, friends and his far-too-tolerant parents.
Initially, the 2002 film had been meant as an end to the Jackass era, but fans cried for more and the group found that during the four-plus years of gestation, they were longing for a taste of that adrenaline rush just one more time (that is, until Jackass Number Three). While many viewers of the first film might feel the group was lucky to have made it out of the first with limbs and lives in tact, these guys had no plans of toning things down for the second dose on the silver screen.
The Jackass Number Two gang includes Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Wee Man (Jason Acuna), Preston Lacy as well as appearances by Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Jeff Tremaine (also director/producer) and Spike Jonze (also producer).
Two opens with the far-from-camera-shy Johnny Knoxville conducting a puppet show with a python inside an aquarium. A cute little mouse is dancing around and urging the snake to attack. The thing is, this little mouse is actually entering the aquarium through a glory hole in the back wall. And, oh yeah, the mouse puppet is being portrayed by Chris Pontius’ penis. And folks, this is just the opening scene.
If you are part of the group that had scathing things to say about Jackass years ago, you need not apply. No growth or maturing has occurred for the Jackass Team in the years since. If anything, this film may just be even more repulsive than before. The feats are even more cringe-inducing and audience members will continue to shake their heads in disbelief. Yet, just as you think they may have taken it too far or that maybe someone has gotten seriously injured, Knoxville’s infectious laugh pulls you into laughing right along with him.
To name just a few of the skits/stunts of Number Two, we have Knoxville wrestling with an anaconda inside a ball pit (he’s bitten multiple times, blood pouring from the bites); a four-way seesaw inside a rodeo ground while a bull tries to ram the seesaw riders; a horse being pleasured with an artificial insemination tube (I won’t tell you what they do with the results) and, finally, Steve-O sticking a leech to his eyeball. I can take a lot, but I admit to turning away during the eyeball sequence.
Like the first, there is no real plot, just a mixture of completely random stunts and skits. In one skit, Spike Jonze dresses up as an old lady whose dress is snagged in a departing cab. She roams the streets in granny panties and nothing else. Another has Knoxville as an irresponsible granddad hanging at a fast food joint with his grandson. He passes the adolescent a bagged bottle of liquor and tells the boy he’s heading to the massage parlor for a happy ending.
For what it is, Two is terrific. It delivers exactly what it promises and, like the happy train wreck Jackass has always been, the boys deliver sequences at once stomach-turning and undeniably entertaining, albeit often in a pretty masochistic way. The most amusing part of the screening was looking around at audience members shielding their eyes, shaking their heads and, on more than one occasion, looking close to nausea.
Bravo, Mr. Knoxville and crew. It’s actually quite amazing the niche these guys have carved for their bizarrely twisted, sadomasochistic, often homoerotic (there are more bare butts than a late night Skin-emax flick) strange little world. If you’re up for the experience and fully aware of what you’re getting yourself into, Jackass Number Two promises a fun night at the movies.
ReelzChannel Rating: 
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What’s on the Disc
Commentary by the Jackass Gang – As you might imagine, this is a pretty lively commentary. It’s essentially a voyeur’s view into these guys hanging out and watching their own movie. Actually, it isn’t a whole lot different from watching these guys on screen. I’m not going to say there’s substance abuse going on here, but I would doubt that everyone participating in this commentary is 100 percent cohesive. All in all, it’s a fun commentary with plenty of the usual Jackass humor.
The Making of Jackass Number Two - This goes a little deeper than the standard promotional “Making Of’s” we are used to seeing on DVDs. Running roughly 30 minutes, you get plenty of insight into the plotting of the gang’s stupid pranks. There is extra takes from the movie and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews about what goes into making a Jackass movie.
Additional Segments Not Shown in Theaters and Unrated Additional Segments – These are full, edited sequences that were not shown in the film. Some are extended versions of the scenes seen in the original, such as the boxing glove; others are entirely new (and often more grotesque and stomach-churning) scenes that will make you cringe. Jackass fans are going to love these. The Unrated stuff is particularly over-the-top, featuring more footage of male genitalia than your average rental from Too Hot video. The funniest scene is “The 90 year old music video,” which is so great it’s hard to imagine why they couldn’t find a place for this in the theatrical release.
Deleted Scenes – Yet even more deleted scenes. Again, some are extended are some are entirely new. Some are a little rougher, but you get the idea.
Outtakes – Various mess-ups and laughs that had to be cut from the film. Some funny stuff here and some painful looking mishaps.
TV Spots – Various ads for the film that ran on TV, including some spots for the MTV VMA’s. There’s even one where the always daring Steve-O clamps a lobster claw to his tongue.
There’s even a photo gallery, a trailer and a music video. This is an excellent DVD release that packs in as many extras as possible. I’d suspected when I first saw Jackass Number Two in theaters that there must be tons of extra footage that would be pretty good, and it doesn’t look like they held very much back. Highly Recommended.