Sunday 6 March 2011

Today's Review: Jackass 3

Since the dawn of time, man has come to blows over many topics. War is forever prevalent, and no one can seem to get along. But there is one thing everyone can relate to, laugh about and enjoy, and that is a man getting smacked in the balls.

Jackass 3 has lots of ball smacking, but plenty of other stupid stunts that make you laugh out loud just because it's funny to see someone get hurt. This has always been the pull of the Jackass franchise. You may think on reflection "that was pretty stupid", but there's no denying you cracked up when the impact happened.

Yes, the Jackass boys are back, and they've been going at it 10 years now. But with everyone getting in on the 3D movement, they've jumped in head first (sometimes literally). I didn't get to see it in 3D at the cinema, which I regret, 'cause some of the moments in this movie, particularly the intro and outro, look like they'd be absolutely amazing in 3D. But this is also the first Jackass movie i've seen in HD, and Preston's wobbling belly is so much more satisfying to watch.

What's great about Jackass 3 is that it doesn't try to do anything different with this new technology, they just use it to make the stuff they always do more awesome. The usual bag of tricks are here. Porta-potty pranks, vehicle stunts, gross out sketches and the odd bull pen thrown in for good measure. Nothing's really been improved on from the other two movies, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? The only problem is that there's nothing spectacular here. Throughout the whole thing you get this feeling that you've seen it all before. Even if you don't need to fix something doesn't mean it doesn't get stale after watching it so much. The most satisfying moments come from the big scale stunts, as they really set the movies apart from the TV show that came before, big budget, big screen, big stunts. That's how it should be. These are all broken up with plenty of smaller scale stunts, the kind they've been pulling for years, but in the end it's all good fun and there wasn't a moment that I was wishing it would end.

These guys have been fooling around for years, and they're clearly milking the franchise for all it's worth, but none of the stunts really seem forced or desperate. The whole team is usually present, and they're laughing just as hard as the audience. They're clearly having fun, and that gives a nice touch to the atmosphere of the movie. Still, these guys are in their 30s now, you start to wonder how long they're gonna keep this up. Granted, they have aged very well, and still look as fresh and juvenile as they have in the other movies, but i'm sure it's got to stop sometime. But then who would entertain me by getting slammed in the crotch? Only time will tell.

My rating: 4/5

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