Jackass: Best and Last: A Somewhat Disappointing Final Outing for the Old Gang (Blu-ray)

The Film:

It's nearly impossible to believe that a show about a bunch of guys doing really stupid things could ever become such a phenomenon, but somehow that's exactly what happened with Johnny Knoxville & his friends when they launched "Jackass" on MTV back in 2000. The show, which lasted a relatively brief 25 episodes over three seasons, had the gang attempting to pull off ridiculous stunts that would generally result in pain, severe injury, and sometimes just plain disgust, and yet it was rather captivating to see the results (and to see what crazy thing they'd think of next). When the show was finished, its popularity remained so big that it simply couldn't end there, leading to a series of theatrical films.

26 years later, "Jackass" is still the stuff of legend, which is why we have now come to their fifth feature film, "Jackass: Best and Last," which purports to be the final entry in the series, a milestone that is perhaps for the best as the original gang (Knoxville, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Preston Lacy, Wee-Man, etc.) are getting up in years. With it being the grand finale, not only are they including a number of new segments, including some fun with a robot, an escape room from hell, and a few shocks in unfortunate places, but also throwing in several clips of classic moments from the show & films. Will the fellas be able to send the franchise out with a bang, or will it merely be a forgettable whimper that longs for its better days?

Right up front, we once again have a title that needs to be addressed. As mentioned, the film is basically a 50/50 split between old & new footage, so yes, much of it is a clip show or "best-of" compilation, but if that's what they were trying to indicate with the title "Best and Last" (basically to give a fair warning), it would appear that they erred a bit in terms of what they wanted to say. Taking the title at face value, we are being told that this is the best film of the series, which as we will soon see, isn't exactly true in relation to its predecessors. Obviously "Best-of and Last" would've been a bit too clunky, but either way, it's a title that could've used a little more thought put into it.

However, putting the title snafu aside and looking at the film itself, it's nice to see some old clips of the gang's classic moments, of which they've had several over the years, but it is a little disappointing to find that about half the movie is indeed old material that any fan would've seen already (or could see in any clip compilation). There are, of course, a few new bits, but even among that material, there's nothing that one could call particularly great. That said, given their age (the old gang was around 50 at the time of filming), you have to cut them some slack in regards to how far they can go with their stunts this time around, so the somewhat basic nature of the new stuff is rather understandable.

So yes, "Jackass: Best and Last" would not be accurately referred to as the best of the series by far, though it will likely be the last (not just due to their age, but the fact that this entry barely broke even at the box office). There's good material in there, and it does act as a decent send-off for the lads who've given us so much amusement over the years, but it's just a bit of a shame that this final outing brings the franchise to a somewhat forgettable end. If they wanted to go out with a true bang, they probably should've put that final ounce of effort into the well-received previous film ("Jackass Forever," which was a box office smash) and called it quits then. "Jackass: Best and Last" has its heart in the right place in terms of bringing things to a close, but in the end, it just can't help feeling like one entry too many.

Video/Audio:

"Jackass: Best and Last" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1 (4:3 for some of the older material), 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality, presenting a perfectly fine picture as usual for the low-budget production. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is fantastic, giving you every word, sound, and music track in outstanding quality. Overall, Paramount Pictures has done a great job in both areas as the Jackass gang's last hoorah makes its physical debut.

Special Features:

Deleted Scenes Montage (18 Minutes)

Conclusion:

"Jackass: Best and Last" is a somewhat disappointing final outing for Johnny Knoxville and his group of crazy friends, filling too much of its brief runtime with old clips and adding nothing particularly thrilling with the new material (though they are cut some slack due to their age). It acts as a decent send-off for the old gang, but you just can't help wishing that it was a little more memorable, or that they had simply put the effort of a grand finale into the previous film to give them the dazzling farewell they deserve.

Score: 3/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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