The success of the American reality-TV comedy show Jackass has inspired many followers, but they were never the only ones fascinated with dangerous stunts and skits: a quartet of friends from Seinäjoki, Finland had started filming similar antics in the 1990s and finally got their own show on the legendary cult TV channel MoonTV almost simultaneously with Jackass' first airings in the US. The Dudesons' popularity grew quickly, as did their budget and the scale of their stunts. Ultimately it was time to open up to foreign audiences as well: the speaking language was switched to English and a full length movie was produced to support the international series, the rights of which have subsequently been sold to more countries than any other Finnish show ever, apart from the extreme traveling show Madventures.The main point of the movie is introducing the Dudesons to international audiences. They are presented as "four friends from the Arctic Circle" (even though they're not really from up North) and each member is given a personality in numerous interviews with the guys: Jarppi is the "daredevil", Jukka the "showman", Jarno the "brains" and HP the "bonebreaker". The constant bratty laughter regardless of what happens and various nasty injuries, the trademark elements of the shows, are all there and a lot of the ideas and footage have been directly recycled from their earlier shows, so old fans of the crew should feel at home despite the new language.This type of cinema is only as funny as the stunts performed, but luckily the Dudesons manage to pull their tricks off rather naturally without coming across as forced or awkward. The skits are more focused on the spectacular, dangerous type of things, often involving car crashes and fire, as opposed to the more gross-out kind of humour of Jackass and their British colleagues Dirty Sanchez (still, that is not to say the Dudesons wouldn't love poop jokes...). It's difficult to say if every scene is completely unscripted or not ("making Jarno mad" looks like it's been set up, as does the van rolling downhill) or if the editing makes certain situations seem more serious and dangerous than they really were, but the more small-scale skits do look very authentic. The scenes with the guys' angry neighbour "Mr. Hitler" are the funniest parts and have been saved for the last, but earlier pranks on unsuspecting outsiders hit home as well, like the confrontation with disgruntled Norwegian cabin owners after a very messy indoors fire extinguisher battle. Some skits are obviously not as funny, but no scenes ever last long enough to get boring and the brisk pacing accompanied by punk rock and heavy metal music keeps the film going with few stale moments.As mentioned in the paragraph above, the Dudesons rely more on spectacle than Jackass, but the other main point of interest about them are their personal charisma and close friendship that raise them above the loose American gang with more members but also more cartoonish personalities. Also, I think the setting in the Finnish countryside is more unique than the generic urban landscapes of the other shows. The changing seasons with altering amounts of natural light and temperatures provide a good-looking hillbilly atmosphere for the Dudeson life, as does the guys' adorable pet pig Britney, even if the international approach has reduced the visibility of their specifically Ostrobothnian identity. In spite of the differences, the crew does acknowledge their similarity to Jackass and frequently collaborate with them, as shown by the cameos of Bam Margera and his family during the Dudesons' trip to America.This kind of humour is definitely love-it-or-hate-it material; it never pretends to be more than overage children having idiotic dangerous fun. At less than 80 minutes it is also about as long as this kind of movie can be without getting tiresome. The obvious folks it can be recommended to are fans of the diverse Jackass and the nasty Dirty Sanchez, but the viewer's ultimate preference between the crews depends mostly on personal tastes. As for myself, I can say I like the Dudesons best, thanks to their natural aura of lovability and the cozy Finnishness of their accents and rural surroundings. For those looking for cringe-inducing injuries and self-deprecating antics, The Dudesons Movie is a great way of having a good time; others should just stay away from it – there are very few "cinematic qualities" to be found, but since the movie never claims to have any, it would not feel entirely worthwhile to criticize it for lack of character development or societal message.P.S. Don't miss the short post-credit scene; it is really something to make even the most hardened torture porn horror fans flinch.

As MTV personality Bam Margera so delicately put it, The Dudesons rock. Four childhood friends living in the Finnish countryside doing crazy stunts for a living and for a lifestyle, spawning a huge cult following and putting the likes of Jackass and Viva La Bam to shame.The Dudesons Movie, whilst essentially being the European version of Jackass, is additionally an interesting documentary which depicts the life of each of the four Dudesons as well as amazing time lapses and stills of the Finnish countryside. Despite the ensuring hilarity of the stunts these guys pull off, one wonders where to to draw the line between hilarity or insanity, a line in which the Dudesons are constantly crossing with their life-threatening antics.This is definitely one for the Jackass fans, it'll blow your f**king mind.

The movie is not so much a movie as it is a compilation of short stunts and bites. The movie has two main themes (in the lack of better words), first the viewer gets to follow the Dudesons for a year: Summer, autumn, winter, spring and finally summer again.The other theme is the presentation of each Dudeson. Here the other Dudesont comment on the attributes of the Dudeson who is presented... Thereby some stunts follow where this person plays some part.The movie is edited together with breathtaking landscape and nature scenes according to the season.This movie suits all those who like the Jackass and Dirty Sanches kind of pain/stunt shows.*** SPOILERS*** Some of the stunts that are done: + Baseball bat wake-up (Straight on the "jingle bells") + Going downhill in a thrash can #1 (what the name says) + Going downhill in a thrash can #2 (the boys forgot to put on the handbrake of the car ... hilarious moments follow when they try to catch the car traveling down hill) + The boys decide to make an open fire indoors (and burn their house) + Revenge on Mr Hitler (the boys take revenge on a old neighbor that tormented them in their childhood, taking a s#it in the letterbox and much more) + And many other stuntsThe movie was OK, if one likes this kind of stuff, a lot of hand-held camera action which makes the picture jumpy and fuzzy at times. It would have been funnier if there was some kind of deeper back story... but one can not ask too much of a plot in a stunt movie.All in all OK, therefore a 7.

This film is in many ways puerile. And it is over the top. And I did snigger and indeed laugh for the full 75 minutes. It's a great deal of fun and, despite the physical injuries the Dudesons regularly sustain, rather life-enhancing – they simply enjoy everything they do so much. It is an intensely physical film, and – for different reasons, unsuitable for male teenagers, the squeamish, or Britney Spears fans. (Presumably some people fall in all three categories.) Although the dialogue is in English throughout and the film clearly hopes to find an American audience it is many ways quite a Finnish experience. The emphasis on landscapes and the changing seasons is part of that. So is the un-self-consciousness about bodily functions, taken perhaps to an extreme that an Anglo-Celtic audience may find surprising. I doubt that there are many cultures where people who perform stunts might be trainee teachers – but perhaps that's one of the lesser-known strengths of the Finnish education system? Seven out of ten.