Review: jackass number two

UK release date: 24th November

Fans of the MTV-spawned Jackass series will be delighted to hear that actor Johnny Knoxville and his daredevil pals haven’t calmed down with age. Instead, they’ve become even wilder since 2002’s feature-length Jackass: the Movie, hilariously raising the stakes for bad taste stunts and pranks with this superior and more darkly imaginative sequel.

The sick-puppy laughs come thick and fast as the adrenaline junkies combine agonising tests of human endurance with moments of utter grossness and juvenile stupidity. Whether it’s danger man Steve-O being used as live shark bait or The Ringer star Knoxville riding a giant rocket, this random procession of often life-threatening skits is a wince-inducing testament to just how far some people will go to amuse others.

Ultimately, if you didn’t get the concept before, you certainly won’t get it now, but if car-crash entertainment is your idea of fun, then this strictly adults-only film is hard to beat.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 18
Running time 92mins

Review by Slaon Freer

Review: The Grudge 2

UK Release: 20th October 2006

Director Takashi Shimizu has made a career out of ghost stories. Or to be precise, he’s made a career out of retelling the same ghost story over and over. The Grudge 2 is the sixth reworking of his original Japanese outing — 2000’s direct-to-video Ju-on. It’s also a direct sequel to his recent Hollywood remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as an American in Tokyo terrorised by ghosts. Gellar returns briefly here, but is largely supplanted by Amber Tamblyn as her sister, who’s trying to stop the supernatural beings reaching the States.

Those familiar with the series will find little that’s original, as Shimizu shamelessly recycles set pieces from earlier incarnations of the story. Yet his masterful ability to inject even innocuous objects (telephones, wardrobes and shower cubicles) with a foreboding sense of dread delivers some occasional, hair-raising chills.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 15
Running time 102mins

Review by Jamie Russell