Don't be a Jackass
Jeff Eskew
Issue date: 9/22/06 Section: Features
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First it was a TV show on MTV, then it became a movie in 2002, and now it's back with a sequel bigger and more over-the-top than its predecessor.
The movie "Jackass Number Two" unleashes its no-holds-bar scenarios on audiences with more outrageous stunts.
The problem with reviewing a movie like "Jackass" is there is no plot, and you can't really talk about the film without giving anything away.
The movie doesn't start out as strong as the opening in the original, where the "jackasses" are rolling down the street in a large shopping cart, but "Jackass Number 2" picks up speed as the movie cruises along for the next hour and a half.
As the movie progresses, you begin to realize there is literally next to nothing this group of men won't do to themselves, their friends or family.
There is nudity, vomiting and even a little of crying from Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and the rest of the gang.
It's difficult to say whether the minds behind "Jackass" are just plain dumb or absolutely brilliant.
On one hand, anyone who would put his body through so much unnecessary punishment to make people he doesn't know chuckle, obviously needs some counseling.
They place themselves in the direct path of dangerous animals such as cobras, hammerhead sharks and bulls.
But on the other, the producers and participants found a way to amuse people using very little money.
According to the-numbers.com, a Web site that lists a movie's budget and total gross, the original "Jackass" cost a measly $5 million dollars to make, and drew in a domestic gross of more than $64 million becoming Paramount Pictures highest grossing movie of 2002.
"Number Two" should being able to make back its production cost of $10 million in its opening weekend or at least come close.
This movie is clearly going to appeal to the everyday macho college-guy stereotype, but the participants also have found a way to break out of this limited audience.
In a majority of the stunts, the guys are nude and often touching one another, making the already stupid stunt more homoerotic.
As expected, "Number Two" will not set a new benchmark for cinema as we know it, but it might just show movie producers and companies that everything doesn't need to be a future Academy Award contender.
Bottom line is that if you were a fan of the TV series and first movie, then you will absolutely enjoy this film, but if you are not a fan of disgusting stunts and people hurting themselves, then I would sit this one out.
The movie "Jackass Number Two" unleashes its no-holds-bar scenarios on audiences with more outrageous stunts.
The problem with reviewing a movie like "Jackass" is there is no plot, and you can't really talk about the film without giving anything away.
The movie doesn't start out as strong as the opening in the original, where the "jackasses" are rolling down the street in a large shopping cart, but "Jackass Number 2" picks up speed as the movie cruises along for the next hour and a half.
As the movie progresses, you begin to realize there is literally next to nothing this group of men won't do to themselves, their friends or family.
There is nudity, vomiting and even a little of crying from Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and the rest of the gang.
It's difficult to say whether the minds behind "Jackass" are just plain dumb or absolutely brilliant.
On one hand, anyone who would put his body through so much unnecessary punishment to make people he doesn't know chuckle, obviously needs some counseling.
They place themselves in the direct path of dangerous animals such as cobras, hammerhead sharks and bulls.
But on the other, the producers and participants found a way to amuse people using very little money.
According to the-numbers.com, a Web site that lists a movie's budget and total gross, the original "Jackass" cost a measly $5 million dollars to make, and drew in a domestic gross of more than $64 million becoming Paramount Pictures highest grossing movie of 2002.
"Number Two" should being able to make back its production cost of $10 million in its opening weekend or at least come close.
This movie is clearly going to appeal to the everyday macho college-guy stereotype, but the participants also have found a way to break out of this limited audience.
In a majority of the stunts, the guys are nude and often touching one another, making the already stupid stunt more homoerotic.
As expected, "Number Two" will not set a new benchmark for cinema as we know it, but it might just show movie producers and companies that everything doesn't need to be a future Academy Award contender.
Bottom line is that if you were a fan of the TV series and first movie, then you will absolutely enjoy this film, but if you are not a fan of disgusting stunts and people hurting themselves, then I would sit this one out.
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