Jackass – Number Two (Unrated Widescreen Edition) | DVD Review

Jackass Number Two is a no-brainer in many ways. First, there’s the obvious fact that it’s a prank-filled movie brimming with bodily fluids (not all of them human) that many of the participants are more than willing to ingest. No brains there, right? But then there’s the fact that the first edition of this series made a boatload of money for MTV and Paramount. As long as the ‘cast’ was willing to have another go at it, why wouldn’t they make a second one? Inexpensive production and a built-in audience make that decision a no-brainer.

It’s difficult to review a film like this as there’s no plot, no production value, and no taste. But it IS funny stuff, folks. Sure, it’s offensive at times, disgusting at others, and just plain stupid most of the way through, but you can’t help but laugh at just about all of it, and that means that the film has done its job. There’s been talk comparing Jackass Number Two to Borat, but where Sacha Baron Cohen’s Kazakh journalist is fictional and meant to dupe the other people in the film, in Jackass everyone’s in on the jokes and yet they’re still funny. That’s an impressive feat in itself.

Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Wee Man, and the whole gang are back, led by head-Jackass Johnny Knoxville through a series of stunts including a penis-puppet show with an angry snake as the audience, Bam Margera getting his backside branded with a cattle-branding iron, and a round of medicine-ball dodgeball…in the dark. The familiar shots of many of the cast and crew gagging in disgust at some of the pranks are in there, and there are some interesting cameos, including Luke Wilson getting electrically shocked by an old war-time battlefield phone. There’s even an Oscar winner in this one, as members of Three 6 Mafia pay one of the guys two hundred dollars to eat a fist-sized piece of dried horse feces.

Jackass Number Two is an apt title for the film, not because it is a bad movie, but because it contains so much toilet humour. If this is what you’re into (and don’t feel bad; judging from its box office take, plenty of people are into it), then by all means pick up the unrated DVD. You’ll get your money’s worth and more.

As with the first Jackass DVD, there are plenty of extras on this disc, all of which are more of the same and serve to almost double the running time of the film. There are more stunts, deleted scenes, outtakes, a making-of featurette, TV spots and theatrical trailers, and a feature-length commentary from most of the principals and director Jeff Tremaine, along with director of photography Dimitry Elyashkevich. All of this makes the DVD one big Jackass party.

If you saw this film in theaters and enjoyed it, then you should most definitely get your grubby little hands on this unrated edition on DVD. There’s enough stuff on it to make it seem like you’re seeing it for the first time. This one is going on my shelf and will get plenty of extra plays.

Movie rating – 3

Disc Rating – 3.5