Sat, Nov 22, 2008
Johnny Knoxville faces a charging yak bull in "Jackass: Number Two."
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Accent

Disturbing, demented 'Jackass' delivers

By Phil Villarreal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.24.2006
"Jackass" stunts leave you shaking your head, not so much wondering how they did them as why.
Then it finally hits you some time after you've seen a man get pummeled by a medicine ball, a raging bull terrorize goons on a seesaw and a snake sink his teeth into, uh, you don't wanna know — the guys do what they do because it's funny, not to mention lucrative.
"Jackass: Number Two" is more disgusting, dangerous and obscene than "Jackass: The Movie" (2002), but for some reason it's not quite as funny. Maybe the schtick has gotten a little old, or maybe the crew is a little too self-aware after more than a half-decade of fame.
This time out, the boys carry an even deeper obsession with mutilating their genitalia. Guided by the lunatic ringleader, Johnny Knoxville, the guys sink deeper into depravity than you ever thought possible, even if you've seen the first movie and every episode of the old MTV show.
Not so much a movie as a short- attention-span geek show, "Jackass: Number Two" strings together nutty short films featuring reckless showoffs risking bodily harm, self-respect and moral fortitude in the name of shock and sizzle.
What's even more amazing than the fact that grown men would be willing to humiliate themselves so thoroughly is that the movie landed an R rating. You'll see bodily fluids of all varieties up close. You'll see someone jab a fish hook through his mouth and then allow himself to be cast into the sea as shark bait. You'll see a man swallow a beer … and not through his mouth.
If you're a fully mature adult, you'll be ashamed just to be in the theater while this slop spews onscreen. But who wants to be a fully mature adult? If you've read this far there must be at least a little part of you that's fascinated by the sheer audacity of the entertainers. Guess what — that's all you need to have a fun time at the movie. It'll be a gagging, head-shaking, cringing fun time, but fun nonetheless.
There's no denying the ingenuity it takes to design this stuff. Who else besides Knoxville would think to wrestle a boa inside a kids' ball pit?
The centerpiece is "Terror Taxi," a glorious prank within a prank that's as ludicrously hilarious as it is offensive. And it's pretty dang offensive. It would spoil things to give away the synopsis, but suffice it to say the segment mocks terrorists, cab drivers and an unsuspecting member of the "Jackass" crew, who unwittingly wears a beard made up of hair shaved from his friends. You can't guess where the hair comes from. Or maybe you can. What do you expect from a bunch of jackasses?
● Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com.