Action Point

'ACTION POINT': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A 'JACKASS' comedy film starring Johnny Knoxville and Chris Pontius. The movie features the usual stunts and pranks, all connected by a story based on the notorious New Jersey theme park 'Action Park'. It was directed by Tim Kirkby, and it was written by Knoxville, John Altschuler, Dave Krinsky, Derek Freda and Mike Judge. The film is a bomb at the Box Office, and it's gotten mostly negative reviews from critics too. I found it to be mostly a bore as well.

Through flashbacks told to his grandson, D.C. (Knoxville) explains how he once owned a successful New Jersey them park, called Action Park. The park was famous for having dangerous rides, ran by inexperienced delinquent teenagers. D.C. and his crew did everything they could to keep the park running, even when it faced stiff competition from a giant evil corporation theme park. In the process D.C. also bonded with his estranged teenage daughter Boogie (Eleanor Worthington-Cox).

I like Knoxville, Pontius and the other 'JACKASS' movies, but this film just isn't funny. I do appreciate it's attempt to recreate the 80's style youth theme park movies of yesteryear though, and in that way it is nostalgic. That's the only thing the film really has going for it though. Other than that it's just a bore, sadly. The other person in the theater I saw it at even walked out half way before the movie was over!

In the "golden era" of television, there was a variety of shows that served to entertain, teach, and all out shock the audience. While sitcoms, cartoons, and the soap operas reigned supreme, there were a few shows out there trying to make their mark. One of these was Jackass, a show that was all about taking the wildest, stupidest dares and making them a reality. Despite all the self-harm, destruction, and lack of logic, this show thrived and led to Knoxville producing a number of movies to support his endeavors. After some hiatus, the master of stunts and ridiculousness is back again in the form of another of a stunt palooza. Robbie K, here to provide insight into the latest silver screen, as we review:

Movie: Action Point

Director: Tim Kirkby Writers: John Altschuler (screenplay by), Dave Krinsky (screenplay by) Stars: Johnny Knoxville, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Susan Yeagley

LIKES:

Cute Motives at times: Among the ridiculous stunts, alcoholism, and dirty humor, there lies a soft, chewy center of family bonding and love. Action Point helps display the hardships of parenting, and in some cases grandparenting, which will speak to many and perhaps demonstrate the importance of balance and understanding. It's a small lesson embedded in the seas of ridiculous stunts, but decently presented to say the least.

Stunts: You can say what you want about how illogical it is to harm one's self for a laugh, but I give credit to Knoxville for still doing his own stunts. Despite being almost 50, he took point in all the injuring scenes and sequences, some of which could easily break a hip, or a neck. His youthful gang is starting to inherit the mantle, but the directors still has a few tricks up his sleeve to bring a laugh.

Fast Pace/Short Run Time: Editing is always impressive to me and Knoxville achieves his desired goal in a short amount of time. Action Point has cut out a lot of fluff, bringing pertinent shots, plot points, and balance between past and present while maximizing the disaster at hand. While you might feel gipped out of a movie for not being at least 90 minutes long, to have the movie feel complete in the short time gets mad props from me, which doesn't happen that often.

The Bear: I'm not talking the mascot, but the actual animal that is in the movie. Knoxville's crew got a bear involved in the movie, and his scenes are humorous to me, primarily when they start harnessing its unique skills for their own promotions. Nevertheless, have a laugh at the impressive performance from a non-English speaking cast member.

DISLIKES:

Little Story: I'm a story guy and no surprise, the movie has little to no story outside a paper-thin plot to ground the stunts to. While this is to be expected in this type of movie, as a reviewer I have to look at all components for my review and Knoxville's team fails on this level for me. Yes, there is some slight character development in the leads, but not much to warrant giving two thumbs up.

Stale Stupidity: Knoxville may get kudos for tackling his self-harm adventure head first, but subjecting himself to the illogical torture gets old after a while. The constant slapstick crashes, pranks, and running into stuff purposefully gets old after a while. Outside of a few scenes, including the bear parts, the movies repetitive comedic focus lost its touch very quickly, resulting in a rather bland attempt at laughs. Most of the audience in my group seemed to have the same reaction as well, so don't expect masterpiece here.

Over the Line: It wouldn't be Knoxville without crossing the line, but there were some major moments that I certainly did not enjoy. Seeing dogs get it on, rather heated sex scene, animal cruelty, and continuous abuse of alcohol are not the things that make a great movie for me. While small in number, the team maximized these moments and not in a classy way at all.

THE VERDICT:

Action Point doesn't sell you short on what the trailers promised. It's a ridiculous ride of Knoxville's usual repertoire of skits with a little cuteness/sincerity thrown in to sweeten the deal. While I understand this is the point of all his works though, the movie doesn't have enough gusto, uniqueness, or creativity to warrant a theater visit. Action Point would have served better as an extended TV special or Netflix series. In addition, it may not turn out as funny as you might expect, mostly because of either the inappropriate moments or the stale comedic slapstick (much of which was ruined by the trailers). Overall, I suggest skipping this one and trying something else in the silver screen.

My scores:

Comedy: 5.5 Movie Overall: 4.0

I feel like Johnny Knoxville has lost a step. I don't know how true that is, because thinking about how much I loved Bad Grandpa contradicts that, but he looks old in this (not just because he is old but I'm sure years of stunt work will do that for you), he looks worn out old.

In what looks like a homage to Action Park, Knoxville plays a park owner literally keeping the rides together using duck tape when a rival park plans to put him out of the biz, so he ups his game by turning down the safety measurements, which allows Knoxville to do what he does best.

I think this movie could have used the support of the entire Jackass crew and not just Chris Pontus, although Pontus totally proves if you are going to do this with only one member, he's got to be that member. Absolutely Hilarious

Realistically, if you are a fan of Knoxville and Jackass you'll love this picture, but I do feel they could have used more slap stick stunts and less story.

Well, the bar is set pretty low considering the cast that stars in this movie. With a bunch of the people from "Jackass", then I kind of already knew what I was getting into here prior to sitting down to watch "Action Point".

And true enough, this was essentially just an episode of "Jackass" upon which they had slapped the illusion of it being an actual movie. Sure, they had something that resembled a storyline, but let's be honest, this is all about the stunts, pranks and absurdity of what people are willing to put themselves (and others) through in order for creating entertainment.

Entertainment... well, I use that word lightly here. Why? Well, because this was not the most interesting or entertaining of movies around. And I doubt that this will be a movie that causes much of a ruckus or any kind of stir. In fact, I believe it will vanish into oblivion in the same manner of under the radar as its existence came to be.

If you are a fan of the "Jackass" crew and their stunts, then you will find some amusement in "Action Point" for sure. But if you sit down to watch this movie with the intention of being entertained by watching a proper movie, you will be sorely disappointing.

Sure, some of the outrageous stunts were fun to watch, but hardly capable of sustaining a movie. I managed to sit through "Action Point" to the very end, although I can't claim to be properly entertained. And I know for a fact that this movie is not one that I will ever return to watch a second time around.

Realistically the film wasn't very good but I didnt really expect much but it was just really good to see Knoxville's and pontius' faces again because I'm a huge jackass fan, RIP Ryan Dunn