Jackass 3D

With the over-the-top of antics of Johnny Knoxville and company reaching the mark of three successful motion pictures, I’d like to comment on the absurdity of how my local theater labeled the film as Jack*** 3D on all their marquees. There is no question the film is not appropriate for all audiences but a jackass was always one of the go to insults for us bold ones in my kindergarten class. Leave the title as it was intended.

Now let’s get on to the movie itself. While it is tough to judge the film due to its disjointed focus-free documentary nature, it is possible to look at the depth of the comedy. I have no knowledge of the actual budget, but it appears that a large portion of it went into the 3D aspect. The large-scale stunts came nowhere near the multi-layered ventures of Jackass 2. Instead the majority of the ideas seemed to be replays of their past successes on a slightly bigger scale (and sometimes smaller). New ideas, such as Steve-O’s bungee jump inside of a port-o-potty, give the film some life but the laughs have gaps between them. The 3D didn’t add much to the experience, except for higher ticket prices.

Possibly the most disappointing aspect of this third film is the elimination of a portion of the cast’s chemistry. In the past, the group had natural pairings, much in the same way Monty Python always did. Steve-O would be with Chris Pontius, Bam Margera with Ryan Dunn etc. This time, the full group tends to be present in most of the skits. This leads to a lot of footage of the group laughing, which can be funny but ultimately the goal should be for the audience to laugh.

I am pointing out weaknesses in Jackass 3D, which is kind of a ridiculous concept. The whole point of the series since it’s earliest days on MTV is for a group of friends to do what they think is funny no matter how shocking it is. The sheer amount of poop the audience sees in Jackass 3D shows that they still know how to shock their now adult audience. I can’t say that this collection is their best work, but there are plenty of classics in there. (7.0 out of 10)