Review: 'Jackass Forever' shows the law of diminishing returns also applies to taking shots to the groin

Is it even necessary, after more than 20 years of this crap, to send movie critics to see “Jackass Forever”?

Certainly the critics are in a no-win situation in the eyes of the makers of this fourth movie installment of men enduring idiotic stunts and shots to the crotch. If a critic likes the movie, then the “Jackass” faithful can declare they’ve made another convert. If the critic dislikes the movie — and this is the more likely scenario — then they “don’t get it,” and have a stick up their ass. 

Oddly, “stick up their ass” is one of the few physical challenges the “Jackass” guys — and, with one exception, they all are guys — put on display in “Jackass Forever.” Also on display are their poor judgment, their willingness to do anything for a laugh, and their obsession with the penis and, frequently, the scrotum.

The opening sequence pretty much sets us up for what’s to come. Johnny Knoxville, who is both the Riff and the Tony to the “Jackass” gang’s Jets, dresses as a general, barking orders to soldiers during a kaiju attack on a city. Every so often we see what the monster is: Co-star Chris Pontius’ penis and scrotum, both painted green, being maneuvered through a model-sized Tokyo.

The movie re-creations don’t end there. There’s a bit where co-conspirator Preston Lacy inserts his scrotum into a hole — which is revealed to lead to the ceiling of a mock boxing gym, so that Lacy’s testicles become a punching bag.

Sometimes a stunt isn’t enough, and they take the act out into public. These person-on-the-street segments are my favorite, because they show how much people should be reviled by the nonsense going on.

Beyond the bad taste — which is in the eye of the beholder — the most consistent problem of “Jackass Forever” is that the jokes hit a level of diminishing returns, which means things must escalate. After someone gets hit in the nuts five times, the next guy can only be funny after getting hit in the nuts 10 times. This gets old really fast.

Speaking of old, “Jackass’s” Pied Piper, Johnny Knoxville, is 50 years old, and his hair, a silver fox white because he stopped dying his hair during the pandemic, looks the part. He’s surrounded himself with a new generation of performers, many of whom seem to have gotten the job because they were fans of the show when they were kids. 

And while these fans-turned-performers seem to be having a good time, one senses they would turn hostile at anyone who, for a moment, questions the entertainment value of having high-speed objects hurtling toward their crotch. I’d strongly advise them not to read the reviews, including this one.

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‘Jackass Forever’

★★

Opens Friday, February 4, in theaters everywhere. Rated R for strong crude material and dangerous stunts, graphic nudity and language throughout. Running time: 96 minutes.