Review of Class Action Park (2020) by Thequietgamer — 20 Jun 2021

Striking artwork aside, what drew me to this little documentary was having previously watched Action Point, a raunchy slapstick comedy led by Johnny Knoxville said to have been based on an actual amusement park. After witnessing those crazy stunts and the ridiculous deathtraps they called "rides" I naturally became very curious about the place they supposedly based all of it on, because surely it couldn't have been real, right? Turns out it could have! And it was just a wild, absurd, dangerous, and strangely magical as you might expect.

Through interviews with former attendees and employees alike we get a look at the insanity of "Action Park" and how it operated. It definitely feels like the kind of stuff you'd see in an over-the-top comedy and is a blast to learn about. At least until things get dark. The docu in no way glosses over the shadier aspects of the madness, be it the corruption behind-the-scenes or the deaths that occured as a result of the owner's negligence. The former is kind of surface level to avoid confusing the audience with a whole bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, but for the latter we get an emotional accounting from one of the deceased's family. It's a tonal 180 to be sure. One that kind of misses the mark as the film tries to go for a "the freedom of the '80s was great, kids today are whimps" message immediately after.

It's this kind of thing that keeps it from sitting alongside the likes of Kedi or Aliens of the Deep as both fun AND educational. Not that you won't walk away informed, it's just that all you'll really be getting are a bunch of facts and amusing insights in lieu of any deeper meaning. That proves to not be too much of a problem though, as the topic at hand is interesting and entertaining enough to make what it does offer worth watching regardless. Plus, it may make for a nice double feature with Action Point, as I can now fully appreciate what a fantastic job Knoxville and crew did at capturing the spirit of their inspiration.

7.