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Jackass 3D Review Roundup

by Jordan Yerman | October 15, 2010 at 07:42 am

2036 views | 3 Recommendations | 1 comment

Jackass 3D Opens Oct 15: Reviews Are In

Jackass 3D reunites the ad-hoc stunt and prank team after a four-year hiatus, and, as the name suggests, the latest Jackass flick was shot in stereoscopic 3D. This means that real-life elements of the shot will be presented in glorious 3D. The Jackass team demonstrated their 3D concept by shooting a stunt in which Chris Pontius attached a remote-control helicopter to his junk. You get the idea: this movie will be more of the same.

Jackass 3D Reviews: It Is What It Is

Rolling Stone is totally into it:

Picture this: a fart-powered paper party whistle sticking out of a guy's bare ass and aimed straight at you. That's 3D, baby. James Cameron never had the balls to try that in Avatar.

Peter Travers reminds us, though, that time may have seemed to pass Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera, and the rest of the crew by, but they are getting older, and the human body can only take so much for so long. How many objects with right angles up your butt are too many?

Variety appreciates Jackass 3D for what it is: a bunch of man-children hurting themselves to make each other (and you) laugh. Justin Chang agrees with Travers: that Johnny Knoxville and co. are ten years older than when the show first began, and this sort of thing can't go on forever.

Once again, these overgrown boys must navigate an extremely painful obstacle course, this one consisting of Tasers dangling on strings. For the umpteenth time, Margera's parents prove impossibly good sports, this time when they're ambushed by a guy in a pretty convincing gorilla suit. As always, the onscreen puking is plentiful and cathartic; seeing people vomit after a sequence as stomach-churning as "Sweatsuit Cocktail" somehow has a palate-cleansing effect.

The New York Times is less impressed, dismissing the 3D element entirely. Manohla Dargis fondly remembers the ceiling-fan stunt from the first Jackass film (come on, it was the best part) while pointing out Spike Jonze's penchant for classic surrealism; perhaps this last bit is more imposed by the critic than intended by the filmmakers.

Buñuel extolled Surrealism partly for its “aggressive morality based on the complete rejection of all existing values”. The Surrealists were responding to church and state, among other forces, while here the guys are reacting to, well, someone sticking something in the nearest hole.