Good surprise Netflix had saved when announcing that ‘Jackass 4.5‘ was going to be one of his premieres for this season. What we did not have so controlled is that this was not going to be the only film of the most unconscious and reckless comic patrol that we were going to enjoy in the catalogue. Now practically all the Jackass movies are on the platform.
With a couple of exceptions, like the brilliant ‘Jackass Forever’, which will still be waiting for its screening window to pass after it has been in theaters, all the cinematographic installments of the most absurd and kooky saga can be seen on Netflix. A golden opportunity to have a blast with the impressive follies concocted by the creative team led by Johnny Knoxvilledirector Jeff Tremain and the producer Spike Jonze.
this is jackass
For some it will still sound like a joke to seriously recommend the Jackass movies for something other than a beer session with friends. For others, they will know how to appreciate the cool movie ambitions behind every stunt, of every absurd joke, of every disgusting move that involves fluids or penises. Or the impressive story of friendship that is at the heart of each play.
Because you don’t have to expect complex structures within the Jackass movies. A great epic starting set piece, and from there on linking the different stunts that have passed the cut. And they work, because It shows that they have put an enormous amount of work into each of these sequences..
always find some extra twist to give to the joke or the goof on duty. Why stop at baffling people by showing a big man chasing a short one when you can also do it in Japan. Or find new ways to show Knoxville being run over by a bull.
A saga full of creativity
The way in which the physicist is played and we see it on the screen is pure exploitation of the codes of physical comedy, especially ones that primarily involve Knoxville. Tremaine, for his part, is always finding different angles from which to capture them, looking for unconventional places to place the camera… Or even experimenting with technological advancesas in that ‘jackass 3d‘ which is one of the most ingenious uses of 3D in the last decade and a half alongside ‘Avatar’.
In addition to the main films, on the platform we can find what are known as “episodes .5”, or complementary deliveries previously intended as DVD extras, but which are practically films themselves -duration included-. Beyond the making of or the deleted scenes, these uncensored installments are more opportunities to see the group of daredevils experimenting with limits and reflecting on the process. In these tapes we find the moments of the narrative arc that in the main films are happening in the background.
We can also find ‘Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa‘ -and its corresponding delivery .5-, where experiment with a more conventional narrative format, articulating the jokes with the same character throughout an entire movie arc. Here Knoxville can make clear his devotion to buster keaton and his mastery of physical comedy.
And it is possible that Keaton himself was moved to see that his legacy has been taken to unsuspected extremes. Or maybe he is hilarious seeing how they find a new twist to making penis pussy.