Jackass 4.5 (2022) February 26th, 2024

Jackass’ traditional point-five sequels is back with Jackass 4.5 featuring behind the scenes antics, bonus stunts, and heartfelt moments of cast camaraderie. Jackass 4.5 chronicles Jackass Forever‘s troubled and unexpected production by revealing they began filming in March 2020. Production stall shortly after as the world shut down due to the Covid 19 pandemic but eventually Jackass Forever became the (allegedly) first major production to resume filming after Hollywood spent months as a ghost town.

It would surprise me if anyone besides the most loyal Jackass fans would be interested in a Jackass Forever making-of especially when the most infamous story surrounding the production is entirely mum. That is of course the otherwise well documented and ever-evolving Bam Margera saga. Jackass 4.5 still manages to included fun stunts but, like Jackass Forever, the most memorable were those that went too far.

New Jackass cast members and real-life father and son team Dark Shark and Jasper Dolphin are tossed into the deep-end when they make the fatal mistake of sharing their own worst fears. Nothing seems to arouse Johnny Knoxville quite as much as torturing other people and paying them for the privilege. The desperate-to-be-relevant Jasper reveals his father is afraid to fly and suddenly a private skydiving tour is booked for the film. Except Knoxville’s orchestrated a typically sadistic twist when the flight to experience ‘difficulties’ including onboard fire and a pilot who jumps from the burning plane at 30,000 feet (I don’t remember the actual elevation). The entire bit here is Dark Shark pissing himself with fear, fortunately not literally, but the man does completely shut down mentally. Thank God Johnny Knoxville is the kind of benevolent boss who’ll put his employee’s through life altering terror for the benefit of less than 10 minutes in the direct-to-netflix sequel to the 4th official Jackass film. Yay.

Jackass 4.5 is still fine, I guess, but it solidifies that the best years of Jackass died with Ryan Dunn. No amount of reinventing the past will get that lighting back in the bottle and maybe that’s ok. I’m grateful for both Jackass Forever and Jackass 4.5 but it is time to hang up the g-strings and lock the porta potties and relegate the Jackass empire to nostalgia.