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Review

Well here's an easy review: This sequel is another series of outrageous stunts, with the raunch factor kicked up a notch, and if you liked any of the previous Jackass stuff, you'll like this one a whole lot too. Thank you and goodnight!

So the real question is, why on earth is Jackass so much better than anything else to come along, from "Candid Camera" to "America's Funniest Home Videos" to even the CKY crew, who were absorbed into this team? The answer is Johnny Knoxville: the most charming, attractive and joyously fearless masochist you'll ever have the pleasure of seeing. Each stunt is set up with a meticulous combination of eager anticipation and dread, and ending with the dual endorphin rush of accomplishment and pain. It's performance art, dada and surrealism, driven by a sense of adventure and curiousity that would kill most cats. Kudos also to director Jeff Tremaine and an accomplished camera crew including music video director Lance Bangs for a seamless verité style, and editor Seth Casriel (an "AFV" vet) for providing perfect punctuation.

As for inventiveness, try these gags on for size: each one goes just a step further than you would have imagined. "The Fart Mask" sounds bad for sure: Steve-O puts on an airtight divers helmet, while obsese Preston Lacy positions his bare ass over a funnel where the scuba tank should be. But it gets worse when the fart becomes a shart... and Steve-O answers the question of what happens when one vomits in an airtight mask. It's scatalogical, slam-bang, and like nothing you've ever seen. Another stunt involves John Waters (further demonstrating the Jackass crew's gay-friendliness) dressed as a magician, waving a wand and making Jason "Wee Man" Acuña disappear. That an obese woman jumps on top of him, blocking him from the sun, is only half the joke; over the end credits, the gag is repeated with a naked Preston, balls tucked Buffalo Bill style, again upping the ante and bringing another level of disgusting comic surprise to the proceedings. The Candid Camera-style stunts are equally unique, including having Spike Jonze dressed in old woman makeup, complete with sagging breasts, and letting her unfortunate boobs pop out in every public situation. Knoxville later does the same thing, but as an old man, and with his equally unfortunate balls.

Alas, the gags are (like all comedy) better viewed than explained, and those who are absolutely terrified of the near-constant presence of vomit, shit and balls are advised to steer clear. But fans of base humor will find scatology elevated to its highest level, and leave hoping that Knoxville never loses his sense of misadventure.

 -- David Gorgos