Mainstream American cinema suffers from a dearth of dicks, but Jackass Forever seeks to solely right that wrong. This fourth outing shows more minutes of the male member in just its opening sequence than what all other studio films combined will likely offer in 2022 (or this entire decade). The Jackass franchise has always been wonderfully blasé about nudity, but this movie bares — and bruises — even more below-the-belt skin than its predecessors. Yet what sets Jackass Forever apart from previous films in the series isn’t just its surfeit of schlongs; as the original cast ages, they’ve brought in a new crew, expanding from the all-male, largely white group and adding people of color and even a woman who is just as game for anything as the guys. Compared to past outings, Jackass Forever is less culturally offensive, less literally shitty (thank god), and less filled with the original cast doing stunts that might cause even more permanent damage to their aging bodies. However, this movie remains pure Jackass-ery at its somehow still-beating heart — and it’s a goddamn delight from the Dickhouse logo to the credits fans know to stay for in their entirety.

Lest those long-time devotees worry, don’t fret: the core group — Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man, Danger Ehren, and Preston Lacy — continue to get into plenty of literal scrapes, despite all being about 50ish. Knoxville still flies out of cannons and braves bulls, Pontius still bares all with little provocation, etc., but it’s perhaps Danger Ehren who suffers the most out of the legacy team in this outing. Two familiar faces are missing: Ryan Dunn, who sadly died in a car crash in 2011, and Bam Margera, who was fired by Paramount for breaching the wellness agreement he signed to work on the film.

This time around, a new crowd joins Knoxville & co. in their antics: Odd Future member Davon “Jasper” Wilson, Eric Manaka, Rachel Wolfson, Zach Holmes, and the perfectly named Poopies. The OGs watch with glee as the newbies careen down lubed-up hills and get stung in the face by scorpions, then join the next stunt or get pranked themselves. This is such a welcoming group, but it’s difficult to tell if it’s pure friendliness or simply eagerness to spread the torture around a bit more. Famous faces join in the fun, including Eric André, Machine Gun Kelly, Tyler the Creator, and, of course, returning fave Tony Hawk.

As with the TV show and the previous films, Jackass Forever is at once profoundly stupid and giddily brilliant, with some of the bits here reaching series’ best status. Actually doing the things they commit to is unimaginably foolish, but both the concepts and the execution of each stunt are wildly inventive. There are layers of laughter in each scene: nervous giggles with the realization of what they’re intending to do, guffaws at seeing them actually do it, shrieks when something goes wrong or they take it to another level, and shared hysterics with the onscreen audience having an absolute blast at their friends’ expense. Beyond the sheer joy, there is still that sense of awe at what the human body can take. Jackass Forever has blood and broken bones, but amazingly there isn’t more of both. This is still absolutely brutal and so gross, with literal buckets of bodily fluids — both human and animal — present, and veteran documentarian Lance Bangs still can’t handle it all without puking.

The omnipresent Bangs, DP Dimitry Elyashkevich, and director Jeff Tremaine continue to do great work here. It always would have been easier to simply capture these extreme exploits on film, but they turn it into art. Perfect comedic editing collides with well-chosen camera angles, demonstrating the difference between a forgettable viral stunt video and the genius that is Jackass. Oscar winner and series co-creator Spike Jonze remains present on screen, as well as earning producer and concept credit, but he isn’t just a creative force. Early on, Knoxville — whose hair switches from dyed dark brown to silver throughout the film — jokingly pleads with the camera not to show his bald spot, and Jonze jumps in, spraying the back of Knoxville’s head as camouflage. That’s a true friend — and emblematic of the series’ devotion to camaraderie and goofiness. These dudes (and one lady) have each others’ backs, even while they’re punching each other in the nuts. 

Among other things, Jackass has always been about the destruction of both property and the human body, but this crew continues to derive pure pleasure from creation too. Four films and countless stunts in, they should be physically and creatively exhausted, but there’s still freshness here. The 2002 movie ended with a “Son of Jackass” segment, set in the future, and if Jackass Forever is any indication, these guys could still be wreaking havoc and getting laughs for decades to come.

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“Jackass Forever” is in theaters Friday.