Jackass Best and Last review: Knoxville’s swan song is surprisingly poignant | Films | Entertainment

Jackass is back in cinemas for one last hurrah – and this Best and Last instalment will have fans of the MTV franchise hiding behind their hands before reaching for the tissues. Johnny Knoxville is the first to admit he’s promised the “end” of Jackass before, but while strapped to an electric lie detector chair in this film, he confirms it. Jackass is over. This is the last we’ll get of the stunt crew, the last time we’ll see a portaloo being catapulted into the air with a trembling Steve-O strapped inside.

While seeing a group of adult stuntmen – and one woman – behaving like children might not seem like the most emotional of experiences, somehow Jackass Best and Last manages to tug at the heartstrings. The crew look back on some of their unaired stunts, starting from the very first time they picked up a camera in 1998 and filmed Knoxville shooting himself in the stomach with a loaded pistol (thankfully wearing a bulletproof vest). That segment, and others, was never allowed to be shown on TV.

Another stand-out throwback is his ‘convict’ stunt, which got the crew banned from filming in Los Angeles. Knoxville dresses up in a county jail boiler suit and handcuffs himself, before heading to a hardware store to go at the chains with a hacksaw – much to the bafflement of the general public, and the disgust of the local police.

Other segments will be more familiar – we relive Steve-O’s first Poo Cocktail, and see Knoxville shooting himself off on a giant red rocket over a lake, before being headbutted by an angry bull. As a long-time Jackass fan, I’ve seen it all before, and it feels a little like they ran out time or effort to film fresh content.

Of course, there are some fresh pranks to keep the audience entertained – the escape room segment produced plenty of pained groans from viewers, while a prostate examination performed by a claw-handed robot had us covering our faces in disgust. There’s a particularly inventive moment, which I won’t spoil, that is particularly vomit-inducing.

Surfer Poopies is a stand-out, as is ‘Danger’ Ehren McGhehey, who will seemingly do anything for the good of the franchise. Poor Zach Holmes has his weight played for laughs more than a few times, and as a relative newcomer it sometimes feels like they’re laughing at him rather than with him.

Sadly the film is still missing its erstwhile star Bam Margera, who was sacked from previous projects due to substance abuse, but who is currently clean and sober. It also pays an emotional tribute to the late Ryan Dunn after his death in a drink-driving accident aged 34.

And throughout it all, there is a surprisingly emotional Johnny Knoxville, who tears up on several occasions as he confronts the fact that he’s saying goodbye to his baby. Knoxville created the programme alongside director Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze back in the 90s, and it built him a lasting legacy. Jackass may be stupid and it may be crass, but at its heart it’s about a group of best friends spending time together. Now that it’s officially over, it’s easy to see why it’s so hard for them to say goodbye to being electrocuted or punched in the groin.

While Jackass Best and Last might be nothing new for die-hard fans, it’s a fitting end to the film series and, ironically, a great introduction for anyone who hasn’t seen it before and wants to dive into the slapstick back catalogue.

Jackass Best and Last is out in UK cinemas from Friday.