‘Jackass: Number Two’ is twice as gross, twice as fun

Ben Plassard

PHOTO COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Credit: Jason Hall

There is something morbidly funny about watching people do stupid things to themselves and others.

That is what makes Jackass: Number Two so irresistible to watch.

Seeing grown men mutilate their bodies and do the dumbest, life-threatening stunts is pure entertainment. Like a good horror movie, you just can’t help watching, no matter how hard you try to close your eyes.

The gang is all here from the original MTV show and first Jackass movie.

Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and Bam Margera have made a living off of doing wild stunts, and in the second go-around, their wild antics get grosser and more nauseating.

Watch as Steve-O puts a fish hook through his cheek and promptly dives into shark infested waters, using himself as bait (it almost works).

Cringe when a wild anaconda nearly takes off Knoxville’s arm while he wrestles it in a pit of colored balls – the kind you find at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

The crew has several encounters with wild bulls, and the bodies fly in each go-around.

The more obscene stunts belong to Chris Pontius, who, besides drinking the bodily fluids of a horse, opens the film by pulling a sock over a certain body appendage, dresses it up like a mouse and dangles it in a snake tank … you get the idea.

Jackass also comes close to qualifying as gay porn. These guys have no problem shoving objects up each other’s butts and running around stark naked. It’s all part of the fun for them, and sadly, for us as well.

The crew has also managed to become somewhat of a super group, with Knoxville now acting (Walking Tall, The Ringer) and Margera, Pontius and Steve-O all continuing to market themselves with MTV and radio shows, commercials and live tours. They use this clout to bring in some guest stars to help with their shenanigans, including NFL star Jason Taylor and Academy-Award-winning rap group Three Six Mafia.

There is some material that is hard to stomach. Puking is a regular thing with these guys and so is on-screen defecation.

While the Jackass crew shows no limits and takes everything to the extreme, the thrill for the audience is seeing this close-knit, brother-like group doing dumb stunts and acting with reckless abandon. They seriously risk life and limb every time the camera rolls. The final product is not pretty, but it sure is fun to watch.

Contact ALL reporter Ben Plassard at [email protected].

Jackass: Number Two

Starring Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee-Man, Ryan Dunn and Dave England

Directed by Jeff Tremaine

Distributed by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films

Stater rating (out of five): ????