"Jackass Forever": one-paragraph review

I just reviewed the very tweedy, very cerebral "Drive My Car," and right after I saw that film, I did a 180 away from the highbrow to watch the very lowbrow "Jackass Forever," a 2022 celebration of mayhem directed by Jeff Tremaine and co-produced by Tremaine, "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville, and others. Don't go into "Jackass Forever" looking for insights into the human condition unless you can somehow tease meaning out of anguished cries of "My balls!" or "I just shit myself!" Scrotums, penises, and loaded anuses are definitely on painful display, here. One dude's cock gets dressed up as a Godzilla-like beast and is filmed in closeup as it rampages across a miniature city. Many opportunities are taken to cause scrotal and penile agony through nasty impacts and/or animal fangs. Cast members are regularly flung through the air via various devices or smacked by giant, spring-loaded hands into swimming pools. People get electrocuted and/or tossed into a dark room with what they think is a poisonous snake. Comedian Eric André makes a welcome guest appearance, but even he gets painfully pranked several times. And that, really, is what makes "Jackass: Forever" what it is: it's never enough merely to prank people—the pranks have to hurt. People have to bleed, to scream in fear and agony, while others off to the side point and laugh mercilessly. The whole movie is a giddy festival of human suffering displayed for our entertainment. But for all that, I didn't find "Jackass: Forever" to be nearly as laugh-out-loud funny as some other critics did. I mean, yeah, I was smiling through most of the bits, but only occasionally did I actually bust a gut. Maybe I'm so desensitized (or so psychopathic) that I need to see entrails spread across a fifty-meter debris field before I'll do more than crack a smile. I don't know. Anyway, the team of stunt guys hasn't lost its touch despite the passage of at least two decades; it's disconcerting to see Knoxville with a head of gray hair, but he still takes his licks alongside the crew's newer, younger members. In all, I'd recommend "Jackass Forever" as decent entertainment that will smooth out the wrinkles in your brain.