Jackass: Number Two (R) ★★★

Not a vomit voyeur? Fine. Cornea penetration not your fancy? Look away--you won’t be alone. But if you’re a Jackass fan, there’s plenty to love about Number Two. If you’re not a fan, get off your high horse and unleash your inner 15-year-old masochist!

Story

Well, the verdict is in: Jackass: Number Two is not soft-core. In fact, the stunts are more vomit inducing than ever before, which, in the immortal word of Steve-O, is rad! All of your favorite Jackasses are back for more, um, fun. That’s right--Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Preston Lacy, Ryan Dunn, Jason 'Wee Man' Acuna and others have returned to again defy death and sober logic as they take on more elaborate stunts. The stunts this time around involve guns, rockets, ramps, terrorism and animals, but not to be forgotten are the fail-proof anatomical gags, some of which involve said animals, and all of which are too vulgar to reference in any way, shape or form here. In summation: more of the same tom-Jackass-ery we’ve come to expect out of these borderline-sane skate-punk dudes.

Acting

A lot’s changed since Jackass’ early days as an MTV show--most of these “actors”/circus freaks have since gone on to stardom--but all the Jackasses still share an undying love for hurting themselves. Aww. With Jackass, the secret weapon has always been the disparate personalities: No two of these guys react the same to their own demise, and frankly it’s hilarious. Truth is, the commentary’s half the fun! Knoxville brims with charisma and pulls off the rare feat of endearing himself to the Jackass faithful even after having become a movie superstar. His drunken (sounding) laugh is infectious, and, yes, the guy with the most to lose takes the biggest beatings and risks in this movie--how can you not love that?! Then there’s Steve-O, whose trademark drawl could be mistaken for a stoned Fran Drescher; he’s the resident self-mutilation whiz. And Margera, renowned for terrorizing his folks, actually displays a soft side in Number Two (to say more would give away the twist). Cameos from directors Spike Jonze and John Waters, Miami Dolphin Jason Taylor, Dukes of Hazzard director Jay Chandrasekhar and more only add to the fun. Indeed, everyone wants to be a Jackass!

Direction

While hard to pinpoint, clearly there is talent necessary somewhere to make Number Two succeed like it does. That talent likely comes from the behind-the-scenes troublemakers, like writers Sean Cliver and Preston Lacy and director Jeff Tremaine, the latter two of whom appear in Number Two. Neither the reactions of the Jackasses nor their spontaneity during the stunts are choreographed, but it does take a lot of advance preparation--i.e. contingency plans, a portable hospital and, it would seem, booze by the boatload to get the mania into full swing--for a single scene to work. Furthermore, to think up such absurdly elaborate ideas is either very painstaking and difficult or very easy--as in watching-episodes-of-Tom-and-Jerry-and-Roadrunner easy. Paramount, though, to pulling off each and every sequence is getting it all in one take, for obvious reasons, and Tremaine and co. manage to pull that off like they do everything else.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.