Jackass Forever

About as critic-proof as series get, the Jackass films nevertheless serve as fascinating litmus tests for viewers’ thresholds for physical comedy.

Plenty of folks have no stomach for the type of painful stunts that Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, and their fellow daredevil hooligans put themselves through for the sake of laughs, shock, and a particular form of glory. But for others, these films and the TV show that preceded them are as reliable as Mel Brooks or the Marx Brothers in the realm of humor.

Arriving a dozen years after Jackass 3D, alleged curtain call Jackass Forever delivers numerous gut-busting moments through the gang’s usual brand of stunts that test the human body’s threshold for agony, much to each other’s delight. But unlike previous feature-length entries that excel at balancing these challenges with Candid Camera-style pranks on unsuspecting bystanders, the dearth of the latter sequences — almost certainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic — causes the fourth chapter to run out of steam.

Still, we’re treated to such antics as Knoxville taking on yet another angry bull, Ehren McGhehey putting his testicles and the rest of his body through the proverbial wringer — complete with some of the film’s funniest reactions — and such celebrities as Eric Andre, Tyler the Creator, and Machine Gun Kelly getting in on the bone-crushing, nerve-rattling fun.

The end result isn’t quite the “return of cinema” communal rallying point that many may make it out to be, though as with its predecessors, Jackass Forever is by far best experienced with a raucous audience of fellow game moviegoers — albeit a masked, socially distanced one for the time being.

Grade: B-minus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Sean Cliver/Paramount Pictures)