admin @ Sat, 2006-09-23 08:00
Whether we want to subject ourselves to their every concussion, snake bite or spew is another story -- but, hey, you've gotta give the suckers for punishment props for going to such great lengths for our attention.
Four years after their first low-budget stunt flick scored mad cash off millions of non-squeamish types, Knoxville and his fellow gluttons for punishment -- sk8er boy Bam Margera, self-mutilating Steve-O, perpetually nude Chris Pontius and vertically challenged Wee-Man, among others -- return with a fresh crop of meticulously planned tricks first honed on their MTV series of the same name.
While it's safe to say their budget this time broke the $5 million they spent on the original film, there's no particular evidence of their thickened wallets. Then again, we haven't priced out horse sex toys lately.
Bear in mind, just because something's strategized doesn't mean it's good. The shameless stupidity we've gagged and cringed at since L.A.'s Knoxville teamed with Pennsylvania's Margera for those cheaply crafted CKY videos is in full force.
And don't think a big-screen role in last summer's The Dukes of Hazzard has tamed Knoxville. The black-sneakered star's still the focal point for extravagant tortures like having his flesh nipped by an anaconda and that infamous yak attack -- though we do sense a bit of arrogance when, after getting shot at, he points to his mug and says, "Is this OK? Then we're good."
Steve-O's still the one when it comes to the downright painful. If you winced watching him slice his mouth with paper in the first film, seeing him pierce his cheek with a fish hook (then proceed to harass a shark) ain't any easier.
Aside from the lengthy final trick Terror Taxi (involving a pubic-hair beard), Jackass: Number Two delivers the same, grainy home videoesque footage and incorporates cameos from the usual suspects -- director Spike Jonze, boarder Tony Hawk, Margera's 'rents -- and even a token movie star in Luke Wilson.
Unfortunately, those who haven't witnessed the sick eccentricity that is Jackass won't appreciate Pontius's bowtie and G-string combo, while experienced viewers might be disappointed to go home with their pre-packed barf bag unfilled.
No, the gang hasn't matured -- they just favour animal-inflicted wounds over yellow snow cones now. Even with only three near-puke experiences in the 95-minute cringefest (depending on your stomach), we're still not convinced they've come to their senses -- or come off whatever intoxicants they've been on all these years.
Given those circumstances, it's a wonder how they continue to come up with so many different uses for skateboard ramps, their nether regions and our personal non-fave, poop.
This is cache, read story here