The reviews for Jackass Forever are in and critics nearly unanimously agree that the film delivers for fans of the series. The astonishingly robust franchise began with the series Jackass, which aired on MTV in 2000 and ran for three seasons. Although the main branch of the series, which followed a group of nine people who performed death-defying stunts and pranks, only ran for a brief time, it spawned over a half dozen spinoff series, some of which ran for even longer. Jackass is also includes an expansive film franchise with three entries in the main run and a 2013 spinoff, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, which got an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
The newest film in the franchise, Jackass Forever, is set to come to theaters on February 4, 2022. It will feature all the surviving members of the Jackass team, including Bam Margera, who was fired halfway through production. In addition to some new members of the core team, the Jackass crew will be joined by special celebrity guests including Eric André, Tyler the Creator, Machine Gun Kelly, and Tony Hawk. The film has been long-awaited by fans following delays caused by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the hospitalization of cast members including co-creator Johnny Knoxville.
While some critics shake their heads at the sophomoric antics of the crew at the center of the film, all of them agree that, when grading on the scale of what a Jackass movie is, Forever delivers what fans want in spades. Of course, ratings vary along with the mileage of tolerance each critic has for their antics. However, nearly all of the major publications have given the film a positive score. Read some selected quotes from reviews below:
Robert Abele, The Wrap
But as always, what’s so joyously, infectiously funny about “Jackass” is rarely the prank itself, but how funny they all find it to reduce each other to writhing heaps. Though you will surely wonder why Jason Acuña (“Wee Man”) would allow himself to be tied down and covered with raw meat as an offering to a hungry vulture, “Jackass Forever” is not for questioning. That way lies the unfunny kind of madness.
Siddhant Adlakha, IGN
Jackass has a history now, and that history has weight, making it one of the rare franchises you’d wish would go on forever, but the limits of the human body make you wish, even harder, that it would stop right this second. It’s difficult to make viewers wrestle with their nostalgia while they’re crying with laughter and wincing from second-hand agony, but Jackass Forever succeeds at this, even if it doesn’t really mean to.
Ross Bonaime, Collider
Jackass Forever isn’t just another fantastic and hilarious installment in one of the most brilliant comedy movie series of the 21st century, it’s also a remembrance of the joy this team has brought to audiences for so long. Johnny Knoxville might have a shocking head of gray hair now, Chris Pontius now has a kid, and Steve-O has been sober for a while, but when this group gets together, that same jubilation over their shared dumb ideas is still as infectious as ever.
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
But as always, what’s so joyously, infectiously funny about “Jackass” is rarely the prank itself, but how funny they all find it to reduce each other to writhing heaps. Though you will surely wonder why Jason Acuña (“Wee Man”) would allow himself to be tied down and covered with raw meat as an offering to a hungry vulture, “Jackass Forever” is not for questioning. That way lies the unfunny kind of madness.
Kambole Campbell, Empire Online
With the shared laughter and earnest embraces throughout such moments, it’s a reminder that, amongst all the carnage, there’s a gentleness of spirit to the Jackass movies. They’re as much a showcase of lifelong friendships as they are of bodily fluids and stupid dares, all built on a deep trust between each other that they’ll come through intact — well, mostly.
David Ehrlich, IndieWire
The beauty of this skate-or-die geek show is that Tremaine also refuses to let age taint the brand’s core essence of eternal boyhood; everyone has gotten older (and former “Jackass” mainstay Ryan Dunn has died), but no one has grown up.
Owen Gleiberman, Variety
You can tell that Jackass Forever is an unabashedly — one might say honestly — slapdash production from the way that the titling of the stunts falls off in the second half, as if they just couldn’t be bothered, or Johnny Knoxville’s hair keeps changing, every few scenes, from middle-aged whitish-gray to brown and back again... [Knoxville] is mostly the master of ceremonies this time, overseeing his crew like a proud redneck scout leader. In the end, though, he’s there to give the film its money shot, once again stepping into the rodeo ring with an angry bull. You can only hope, for these dudes’ sakes, that “Jackass” isn’t forever. But for now it’s earning its yucks, and its yuck.
Jesse Hassenger, Paste Magazine
Two factors help Jackass Forever mitigate this on-trend sameness, and then transcend it. One is the durability of Jackass itself... The second factor also has to do with that longevity. Let any movie or TV series run long enough, and it will become at least in part about its own age, and while Jackass doesn’t get too cutely sentimental about how long these guys have been in each other’s lives and ours, it is unavoidably aware of that fact.
Frank Scheck, THR
Jackass Forever is being released only in theaters, providing the opportunity for its fans who find constant hilarity in its sophomoric antics to share their pleasure with like-minded brethren. The rest of us can only shake our heads and wonder about the future of civilization.
Josh Spiegel, SlashFilm
Though we can lob the phrase "critic-proof" at big-budget blockbuster nonsense, there really isn't a more critic-proof film than "Jackass Forever." The movie itself feels like a paraphrase of a snappy line from the 1991 comedy "Barton Fink": it's a "Jackass" movie with outlandish stunts, Johnny Knoxville, and heaping helpings of frontal male nudity. Whaddya need, a road map?
Another thing the critics can agree on is this crew's ability to constantly provide the shock and awe that they are known for. Although the scripted elements of Jackass Forever are the most divisive, the documentary-style stunts and pranks evidently provide the same amount of punch that they used to. Some have even argued that the maturity of the cast 20 years after the franchise premiered makes for a more robust and satisfying experience.
Jackass Forever isn't necessarily the final film in the series. Johnny Knoxville hasn't nixed the possibility of continuing with another amped-up entry, and if theater audiences listen to the critics and set the box office alight, there is a very good chance Jackass 5 will be arriving sooner rather than later. Considering that the film was created on a relatively low budget of only $10 million and it's the first wide release after two extremely barren weekends at the end of January, the prospects are looking extremely good.
Source: Various (see above)
