JACKASS TWO

Pranks – tricks – gaffs – and general tomfoolery, all of these things are a large part of conventional jovial fair. But to be completely honest with you, it is also a large part of this fractured filmic fun too! One Directed by Jeff Tremaine and Starring Johnny Knoxville with his band of buffoons. It was made in 2006, and lasts for 95 minutes.


Jackass Number Two


THE STORY:
Hello, good-evening, an welcome to Jackass part two - a complication of short sketches that illustrates the high-flying high-jinks of a motley crew of nine professionally trained stuntmen - acting like complete and utter a**holes.

OK, I am sure that you are wondering to yourself what it is that they actually do – maybe? Therefore, to explain this comedic compilation more succinctly, this list will ask questions that will define more answers:

• Who can run faster – the Jackass mob or a heard of cattle?
• Puppet penus verses snake – which one bites?
• A strongman slams a metal dick into someone’s ass – painful?
• Mini-bike verses large circular ramp – which one of the Jackass mob makes a full circle?
• Does branding a scolding cock on your ass hurt?
• Can you jump a lake in a rocket powered bike?
• Does Dave-o with a hook in his cheek fish for sharks?
• Sticking to a moving truck in a Velcro suit - does it suck?
• What gives wee-man the biggest shock - a card in his butt or the chair that he is sitting on?
• Johnny verses the yak – who does the back flip?
• Bungee jumping with Wee-man and Preston – who belly flops?
• Are bad Grandpas good role models?
• Is sledding down the stars viable?
• How does being stuck in a limo with a swarm of bees feel?
• Rake slap – any good?
• Dave-o eats shit – tasty?
• Are old women sluts?
• The magic trick – can Wee-man disappear within a mound of female flab?
• The gauntlet – ouch?
• Can butt chug bear?
• Anaconda Verses Jackass – who has the bigger balls?
• Is skateboarding with flying blocks in the way a good thing to do?
• Fresh Horse spunk – got milk?
• Does rolling down a hill within a large tire make you feel dizzy?
• Is a leech to the eye good for Dave-O’s vision?
• Wind tunnel verses skinny man – who has more hot air?
• Can a fart mask make you sick?
• Old man balls... no comment
• Does an unsuspecting wife recognise when her husband has been switched during the cover of darkness?
• Is rocketing Johnny into the air harmful to the environment?
• The Terror taxi – is this the best sketch? YES! Why? It involves a prank in a prank, and some pubic hair too.
• A bear trap is called a bear trap for a very specific reason – so why does Johnny stick his hand into it?
• And many-many more I care not to mention...

Not the end.

THE REVIEW:
There is a comment made in 'Jackass Two' which in my opinion defines it perfectly. It's when Johnny says’ to Dave-O "Stick you butt into the camera, so that the audience can get a better view of the beer". OK, not within context, this remark may seem somewhat oblique. But then again that is precisely the reason for me to state it -- this film is oblique.

Now for those of you who aren't sure what ‘oblique’ means, this definition defines an obscure point of view that is not conventional to the norm -- and that sums up this film to a tea.

You see, this is the second time that I have watched the 'Jackass crew in action – the first being with Jackass 3D – so I have to ask myself one simple question... better or worse? Hmm? Hard to say really. With the third film, I did not know what to expect, so I was surprised with what they had on offer – overall, pleasantly. However, now, with this film, I had something to compare it to - thus making my judgment slightly more analytical than before.

Initially, I just found some of the skits within this sequel more fleeting - as they introduced the thing and then, BANG! Next sketch. Others sketches however, did seem to have a similar tone - making the overall experience more repetitive in nature. Moreover, there were also one or two sketches that were down and out revolting – bordering on the inane and crass (or ‘tastes like crap’, if you get my meaning).

To juxtapose this stance, though, what ‘Jackass Two’ excels at, is the longer sketches - those few in depth and more personable pieces that delves into what the stuntman feelings about a prank. For me, this added depth just gives the whole nature of this type of movie more scope, more character, and more connection with the audience.

Well, why else would you care about the outcome of a stuntman’s antics, if you have no attachment to the stuntman in question?

To highlight this point more clearly, there is a great sketch in this film called 'The Terror Taxi'. What they do, is to get one of the Jackass clowns’ to dress up like a terrorist, before he gets into a taxi and scares the taxi-driver with the threat of a bomb. But what the clown does not know, is that the taxi driver is in on the prank, and the clowns beard is made of pubic hair too.

Gross, right? Which I have to say is another word that sums up this movie to a tea as well.

Gross and oblique, HA! Who would have thought that those two words could define a film so well? Hmm? Johnny and his motley crew perhaps? And that is why they made it in the first place, right?

Well, like it – loath it – or detest it – movies of this nature are here to stay, and I am sure that we will see its like again in the near future.

A mixed film with a mixed result.

THE RATING: B