After more than two decades of self-inflicted chaos, the Jackass crew have finally admitted they are too old to keep doing this – and their last film proves it.
Read the full review below.
JACKASS: BEST & LAST (MA15+)
Director: Jeff Tremaine (Jackass Forever)
Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Jason ‘Wee Man’ Acuna.
Rating : ***
Saving the best of their worst till last. And now, the end is near. And so they face the final curtain.
There will be no more Jackass movies after this.
In Jackass: Best & Last, that notorious band of self-harming, free-form stunt enthusiasts make their exit the same way they entered: crammed inside an oversized shopping trolley, the world exploding all around them as they hurtle towards the edge of a cliff, and a plunge into the great unknown.
You should know by now if the Jackass brand of profoundly stupid anarchy is for you.
If you do feel the need to say goodbye and salute these gonzo goofballs for their unnecessary pursuit of danger in its most impure form, Best & Last is sure to slam the door shut in all the right ways.
From start to finish, Best & Last staggers about inside a hazy mist of celebration mixed with contemplation.
Now well into their fifties, team leader Johnny Knoxville and his ragtag bunch of followers repeatedly admit they are too old to keep doing this kind of stuff for too much longer.
And yet, a day without the adrenaline and amusement of their life’s work is a genuinely sobering prospect.
In fact, the Jackass team are so past their prime, they openly confess they do not have enough fresh material to fill a new movie.
So between each original set-up, Best & Last not only revisits a few of the crew’s greatest hits, but also mines a rich vein of unseen footage that was cut from earlier productions.
If you carry the Jackass gene, you will be amazed, appalled and enraptured by what has been hauled from the archives.
Standout blasts from the past include the first-ever Jackass stunt captured by cameras (in which a baby-faced Knoxville tests a bulletproof vest at frighteningly close range), a mock prison escape which attracts the attention of a very angry LA Police Department, and a hilarious fake abduction of movie star Brad Pitt as he waits in line for a taco (fear not: he was very much in on the joke).
Compared to the high and hellraising quality of these flashbacks, the new material on offer in Best & Last is very hit and miss … and not for the faint of heart (as always, the sudden appearance of certain body parts and bodily functions can shock and disgust without fair warning).
Jackass: Best & Last is now showing on general release.
MINIONS & MONSTERS (PG)
Rating: ***1/2
General release.
After stealing the show in all four Despicable Me flicks – and hilariously headlining two big-screen blockbusters of their own – the Minions return for their third solo assignment with a whole lot of fresh mirthful mischief to make.
And this time, those Minions mainstays Kevin Stuart and Bob are nowhere to be seen.
Same goes for their longstanding frenemy Gru, too.
Instead, this fast-paced and highly energised affair journeys back in time to visit a different branch of the Minions family tree.
This explains how we end up in 1920s Hollywood, where these little laugh machines accidentally become the biggest stars of the silent-movie era.
However, just as they’ve hit the big time, the advent of sound and ‘talking pictures’ kicks the Minions to the curb.
Determined to fight back and reclaim their fame, the Minions (led by franchise newcomers named James and Henry) decide to make their own movie.
It will be a monster movie, no less, as that is the genre ringing tills at the box-office.
This is more than enough plot for an abundance of Minions mayhem to be unleashed, and the sheer silliness of it all simply never wears off.
Kids will love it, of course, but any adult with an ongoing admiration for the maverick spirit of the Minions won’t be finding fault with much.
Stars the voices of Pierre Coffin, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges.
THE GOOD BOY (MA15+)
Rating: ***
Selected cinemas.
This is one disturbing and disorienting movie.
our best way in – if so inclined – is to focus on the presence of two fine actors in the lead roles. Stephen Graham (the dad from the acclaimed Netflix series Adolescence) and Anson Boon (the obnoxious young crook from the Paramount+ streaming hit MobLand) go head-to-head in most scenes here, and each is clearly pushing the other to rise (or is that sink?) to the ultra-bleak occasion demanded.
Graham plays Chris, an everyday British family man who has taken it upon himself to teach a loutish TikTok influencer a lesson.
Tommy (Boon) wakes up from a big night out, chained to a wall in Chris’ basement.
Just as there is no escape for Tommy, there doesn’t seem to be much of a game plan for Chris. Is it an act of revenge or a gesture of redemption that is in play here?
This is tough, demanding fare that will arguably reward those brave enough to make the commitment, but is too abrasive and intimidating for casually curious viewers.
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Originally published as Review: Shock A-list cameo in Jackass farewell movie
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