POISON SCOOTER

Jackass Number Two

Those dimwits hell bent on self torture are back and boy did I miss them. Looks like a lot of folks did based on the box office from this weekend, 28 million on a 10 million dollar budget and about 18 million more than any other movie out there over the past 3 days. Not bad for a bunch of bratty skater kids who maim themselves for our twisted and voyeuristic pleasure.

Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam, Dunn, Pontius and the rest of the gang take things in this sequel to the next level, truly giving the appearance that they want to be seriously hurt or possibly killed while performing some ridiculous stunt. As lowbrow and infantile as this type of stuff is, you have to respect the fact that right now, collectively speaking, Jackass Two is getting better reviews than Invincible, The Black Dahlia and Hollywoodland. What does this say about us as a culture? We prefer shit jokes and pranks to conventional story telling? In any case, these guys have figured out how to make a franchise out of pain and laughter. And good for them.

There are obvious staged scenes in this one (the fan letter on the wall), and occasionally the boys appear to be adding some padding for protection (Knoxville on the teeter-totter) but you have respect that they put themselves in precarious positions for our enjoyment and always have 2 or 3 throwaway lines that make you piss yourself. I'd recommend this one just to see the opening credits scene and the closing musical number alone.

posted by Scooter @ 5:05 AM