Deja viewing: the return of the cheapo compilation film
While movie mixtapes served a purpose in the pre-video era, Jackass, Demon Slayer, Peppa Pig and other theatrically released assemblages of old material risk looking like cynical cash grabs today
Johnny Knoxville has declared that the fifth Jackass movie, Best and Last, will mark the end of the franchise, and the trailer suggests a victory lap celebrating 25 years of broken bones, injured genitals and general stupidity you shouldn’t try at home. There are new stunts, and conversations with the cast about growing old gracelessly as they enter their 50s, but the most striking thing is how much archive footage there is. And the cast have not been hiding in interviews that it will be heavy on scenes from prior movies.
In other words, it’s the cinematic equivalent of a greatest hits album that has a couple of new songs tossed on to entice fans to part with their money. Or a clip show episode of a US sitcom which is based on flashbacks to older episodes, created so that overworked writers can reach their network-mandated episode count. But in the age of YouTube and streaming, when you can watch many a fan-edited Jackass compilation featuring the same footage, it is asking a lot of audiences to leave their homes and part with their money to see it.
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