Jackass: The Movie – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Jackass: The Movie

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2002

14%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A 90-minute insurance liability that proves humans will do anything for a laugh and a hospital bill.

49%

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Jackass: The Movie

movie

R, 2002

14%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A 90-minute insurance liability that proves humans will do anything for a laugh and a hospital bill.

49%

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49%

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Screenwise Verdict

Jackass is a relic of a time when we thought watching a guy get hit in the crotch was the pinnacle of cinema. While the friendship between Knoxville and the crew is weirdly genuine, the 'don't try this at home' warning is doing a massive amount of heavy lifting.

For a modern kid, this is basically a precursor to the worst parts of YouTube and TikTok 'challenge' culture. It’s not 'enriching' unless you’re studying the limits of the human pain threshold. Skip it for family night unless you want to spend your weekend in the ER explaining why your kid tried to ride a vacuum cleaner off the garage roof. It's funny if you're 20 and at a party; it's a nightmare if you're a parent.

Age Fit

This is strictly for adults or older teens who have enough common sense not to jump off their roof into a kiddie pool. It is fundamentally not for children.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

The only thing keeping this from a zero is the genuine, weirdly sweet friendship between the guys. They clearly love each other, but they express it through shared trauma and bodily fluids.

Imaginative

You have to give them points for the 'creative' ways they find to hurt themselves. It’s a specific kind of low-brow ingenuity that changed pop culture, even if it's mostly just finding new uses for golf carts and alligators.

Safe

This is the definition of unsafe. It is a highlight reel of imitable, dangerous behavior. Every stunt is a 'don't try this at home' moment that kids will absolutely want to try at home.

Enriching

Unless you're getting a PhD in the evolution of prank culture or the limits of human pain tolerance, there is zero educational or ethical value here.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

The camaraderie is real—these guys are genuinely best friends who happen to be idiots.
It's a fascinating time capsule of 2002 MTV-era subculture.
Pure, unfiltered physical comedy that doesn't require a single brain cell to process.

⚠

What to Watch For

Highly imitable stunts involving shopping carts, fireworks, and animals.
Extreme gross-out humor involving every bodily function imaginable.
Full-frontal nudity and constant, heavy profanity.

Conversation Starters

"Why do you think these guys are willing to get hurt just for a laugh?"
"What's the difference between a professional stunt and what they're doing?"
"If you saw someone doing this in real life, would you help them or call an ambulance?"
"Does having a camera present change whether a 'prank' is okay or not?"

Deep Dive

The original viral video

Before the TikTok algorithm existed to serve up "challenges" directly to your kid's brain, there was Jackass: The Movie. In 2002, this wasn't just a film; it was a cultural earthquake. It took the low-fi, skate-video aesthetic of the MTV show and scaled it up for the big screen. Critics mostly loathed it—the 49% Rotten Tomatoes score reflects a lot of pearl-clutching from people who didn't get the joke—but the 75% audience score tells the real story. This is pure, unadulterated stupidity elevated to an art form.

If your teenager is suddenly digging through the archives to find this, it’s likely because the Jackass DNA is the foundation of modern creator culture. Every YouTuber who does a "prank" or a high-stakes stunt is essentially a polished, corporate version of what these guys were doing in parking lots with handheld cameras.

The "I could do that" friction

The specific danger of Jackass: The Movie isn't that the stunts are "too big." It’s that they look easy. When you watch a blockbuster, you know you can't fly a jet or fight a robot. But when you see the crew wandering around Japan in panda outfits or wreaking havoc on a golf course, it looks like something you and your friends could do on a Saturday afternoon.

This is the "imitability" factor that parents usually get stuck on. The stunts involving live alligators or fireworks aren't just gross; they are accessible. The movie relies on a specific type of physical comedy that bypasses the brain and goes straight to the gut. It’s funny because it’s real, it’s painful, and the reactions are genuine. If you have a kid who is prone to "hold my beer" moments, this movie will provide them with a lifetime's worth of bad ideas in under two hours.

How to think about the "Why?"

If you're trying to figure out if this fits your household, look at what your kids are already watching. If they are into high-energy, chaotic content like The Casagrandes—which we cover in our parent's guide to the movie—they might be drawn to the "controlled" chaos here. But Jackass is the R-rated, jagged-edge version of that energy.

There is a weirdly wholesome undercurrent, though. These guys are clearly best friends. The way they laugh at each other’s misfortune is a very specific type of male bonding that hasn't really changed in twenty years. They aren't trying to be role models; they are trying to make their friends laugh.

The 2026 perspective

With a new installment hitting theaters soon, it's a good time to revisit the source material. If you're debating whether to take the family for a The $100 Movie Afternoon to see the latest one, watching the 2002 original is the ultimate litmus test. If you find the shopping cart stunts and gross-out gags unbearable now, the modern sequels will be even worse.

For a deeper dive into what the current era of this franchise looks like, check out The New Jackass Movie: A Parent’s Survival Guide. It’ll help you navigate the leap from 2002's "guys with a camcorder" vibe to the high-production mayhem of today. Just remember: the budget has gone up, but the maturity level has stayed exactly the same.

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