Film

Jackass Forever

Name: Jackass Forever
Genre: Action, Comedy, Documentary
Released: 2022
Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Jason 'Wee Man' Acuña

Jackass Forever is the crew's victory lap: forty-somethings plus a few new recruits back for one more round of bee stings, cattle prods and dignity sacrificed on camera. It's dumber and somehow sweeter than the earlier films, more affectionate than mean, oddly aware of its own mortality. Watch it for pure, communal, physical joy shared between old friends who clearly still love hurting each other for a laugh.

TMDb rating

6.8

If you liked this

Jackass 3D2010no page yet

The last time this crew felt genuinely reckless before age and injury caught up with them; the 3D gimmick made every impact land twice as hard, and it's arguably the tightest, funniest entry in the franchise.

But The 3D effects are pointless on a flat screen now, and some gags lean hard into gross-out over genuine wit.

Jackass Number Two2006no page yet

Peak-era chaos with the group at their most inventive and their bodies still mostly cooperating; the horse tranquilizer segment alone justifies the runtime.

But Some stunts read as needlessly cruel to animals and bystanders, which hasn't aged gracefully.

Jackass: The Movie2002no page yet

Where it all started - rawer, scrappier, less polished than later entries, with a genuine sense that nobody involved had thought this through, including the studio funding it.

But Low-budget early-2000s production values and a rougher, meaner streak than the later films.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Steamboat Bill, Jr.1928

Same engine of real bodily risk performed for laughs, decades before cameras could fake anything - Keaton did his own dangerous stunts with zero safety net, the exact dare-and-commit spirit that built Jackass.

Buster Keaton builds an entire physical-comedy set-piece around a house facade collapsing on top of him - a real stunt, no CGI, no stunt double, filmed once because there was no safe way to do it twice.

But Silent, black-and-white, nearly a century old; some viewers can't get past the format long enough to see the stunts.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa2013no page yet

Johnny Knoxville in old-man prosthetics pranking unsuspecting real people gives the format a scripted spine and a genuinely sweet ending buried under the chaos.

But The hidden-camera format means fewer big physical stunts and more scripted set-pieces; less purely physical than the main series.

Impractical Jokers2011no page yet

Four lifelong friends dare each other into public humiliation on camera, week after week - same bond, same masochistic affection, much lower stakes physically.

But Pranks are mild compared to Jackass; if you want pain and danger this is closer to a sitcom.

Nathan for You2013

Nathan Fielder's deadpan business schemes on real people share the same commitment to a bit long past the point of comfort, just with awkwardness instead of injury.

But Cringe rather than pain-based comedy; if you're here for stunts, this is a completely different beast.

Wildboyz2003

Chris Pontius and Steve-O travel the world getting into fights with wildlife instead of each other, a spinoff with genuinely unhinged nature-documentary energy.

But Feels like a retread with a new backdrop, and the animal-danger stunts sit uneasily today.

Freddy Got Fingered2001no page yet

Tom Green's gleefully deranged, career-torching comedy shares the same commitment to physical absurdity and audience discomfort, just filtered through a scripted narrative instead of real stunts.

But Widely considered one of the worst-reviewed comedies ever made; the humor is aggressively juvenile even by this genre's standards.

Grizzly Man2005

Same instinct - filming yourself doing something dangerous because the camera makes the risk feel meaningful - taken to its most serious, fatal conclusion instead of played for a laugh.

Werner Herzog's documentary about a man who filmed himself living among wild grizzly bears until it killed him is the sober, tragic mirror of the impulse that drives the Jackass crew to point a camera at their own risk.

But It's a genuinely upsetting film about a real death, with none of the comic relief Jackass offers.

The Wrestler2008

A fictional portrait of an aging performer whose body is his whole identity and only currency, hitting the exact note Jackass Forever hits when these fortysomething men keep getting hurt for the bit.

Mickey Rourke plays a broken-down wrestler still climbing into the ring long after his body has told him to stop - the drama version of what happens when the stunts stop being funny and start being an identity.

But It's slow, sad and devastating rather than funny - a hard tonal U-turn from anything Jackass-adjacent.