Best And Last is a mix of new stunts with classics, with the odd BTS reminiscence thrown in. The new stuff is a riot of pain, poo, lip fillers, puke, cocks, blood, regret, nasty surprises, uncontrollable laughter and oddly warm-hearted friendship. There’s fun with a device that allows one wearer to shock the other and “control” their counterpart’s arm by flexing. The Escape Room From Hell might seem like both the most painful and disgusting offering here, were it not for an unexpected tasering, or the most revolting game of Twister you will ever see.
More than once, someone complains that “I can smell it”. Just as you think the idea of Chris Pontius getting naked to try the high-jump as they did in ancient Greece is fairly tame, the crew insist on capturing better the sound of his cock slapping against his legs. Then they make it even funnier.
As for the old stuff, it’s not the cop-out of time-filler some may have been expecting. It’s always worth watching Poo Cocktail again on the big screen, or reliving the so-far-beyond-cruel-it’s-funny-again rattlesnake prank from the last movie. But there’s also some of their oldest clips thrown in, as well as stuff that never made it to air.
Jackass has, in a way, captured and chronicled the lives of those who made it. It makes for an unexpectedly emotional ride at times. Without trying to intellectualise a punch in the nuts, part of its success is the camaraderie and joy that goes with it, the delight when the painful punchline happens, the looks of knowing dread, a feeling that everyone else is really glad it’s not them doing something. It feels like the last day of school.
Among the pain and splatter and skidmarks and vomit, this is a love letter to Jackass itself. It’s actually oddly touching that the absent Bam Margera’s stunts are so prominent, as is the late Ryan Dunn. At a couple of points, Knoxville actually gets genuinely emotional that this is it.