"Jackass Number Two" is two times as funny

Everyone pulls the occasional prank on their friends, but not as the tricksters of "Jackass Number Two" do. Their idea of a practical joke is releasing a king cobra on an encaged buddy.

Gross, twisted, sick, revolting yet hilarious, director Jeff Tremain's sequel to his 2002 film "Jackass: The Movie" is a comic masterpiece. Johnny Knoxville leads his squad, the same crew as the first movie, all over the world to satisfy the sadistic pleasure of audiences. People with weak stomachs should definitely stay home.

Plot, character development, cinematography, beginning, conclusion — who needs it? From start to finish, the movie is a free-form, plotless and a gut-busting compilation of ludicrous scenes. Everything starts off with the boys getting chased by a herd of charging bulls. Diving right and left the crew gets trampled, speared and flipped by the angry animals. What's more, there are no computer effects to be seen: everything in "Jackass Number Two" actually happened.

Each member of the crew has something special to contribute to the silver screen version of a show previously made for MTV. Bam Margera, the only cast member who genuinely seemed to question why he was doing this, endures being cow-branded with a male genital shaped iron on his rear-end. When the searing metal nears his backside, it's hard not to erupt in belly-aching laughter with Margera's friends as he whines in pain. John Waters, an off-beat director, makes a cameo appearance in perhaps one of the most memorable scenes when he makes midget Jason Acuña, known as Wee Man, "disappear" under a monstrously obese, half-naked woman. Even producer Spike Jonze steps on the screen, disguised as an old woman who can't seem to keep her shirt on in public. Ninety-five minutes of feces (the movie isn't called "Number Two" for nothing), pain, flatulence and fat naked men later, the movie ends.

Old favorite "Jackass" techniques of using secret cameras, practical jokes, the gross-out factor, and painful experiences are brought back for the sequel. The entire cast, however, goes much larger on the pranks than in the comparably tame first movie. Even with the added pain and danger, no one in the crew suffers any significant injuries — but that's not to say there weren't close-calls. Knoxville is almost gutted by a piece of a rocket that narrowly misses his stomach and is later attacked by an anaconda that he tries to wrestle out of a play-pen. The possibility of a life-ending stunt in "Jackass Three" seems almost certain if the cast wants to top this film.

Although some grossness is to be expected, there was no need for the most disgusting, head-turning scenes. Even with an "R" rating, the skit "how to milk a horse" had to be censored because the material was only able to be shown with a NC-17 rating. The possibly clinically insane Steve-O contributed to many of the repulsing parts of the movie. At one point, he pierces his cheek with a fishing hook so his friend Chris Pontias can cast him out into shark infested waters. The camera gratuitously focuses in on Steve-O's mouth as Pontias helps the metal slowly slice his skin.

"Jackass Number Two" is certainly not for everyone. Those looking to see a "quality" movie should steer clear. Anyone looking for a side-splitting good time, on the other hand, would be a fool not to witness the repulsive jackass rituals that this sequel has to offer.

"Jackass Number Two" (95 minutes, at area theaters) is rated R for extremely crude and dangerous stunts throughout, sexual content, nudity and language.