JACKASS 3D

JACKASS 3D

The Splatter that Matters

Directed by Jeff Tremaine
Starring Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man

How do you even measure a Jackass movie using the critical tools normally applied to other films? How do you even categorise it? Is it a comedy? A documentary? Some kind of bastard cinematic offspring of reality television? All of the above? None?
It’s certainly transgressive, if you look at it from the right angle; boundaries are definitely being pushed here, both in terms of the physical trauma that Knoxville’s team will endure, and the audience’s endurance of some of the more grotesquely scatological stunts, this time rendered in now almost obligatory eye-popping 3D. When the Jackass team decide to ride roughshod over limits of good taste - usually with Steve-O, a man with no apparent regard for hygiene or dignity, at the fore - they do it with gusto and determination bordering on the pathological. There are moments in the film where your jaw will gape as you stare, slack-eyed, at the depravity on the screen.
So it’s probably a good thing that it’s also gut-bustingly funny. We’re pretty simple creatures, when you get right down to it, and there’s something about the humble shot to the balls that we find hysterical on a primal level. Whatever the particular details of the individual scene, all the skits in Jackass work on the exact same wavelength, and it’s only the method of delivery that differs. Happily, the boys have a bottomless well of perverse creativity to couple with their aptitude for self-harm, and there are stunts here that simply beggar belief.
But we really can’t talk about the details without dulling the film’s edge. The problem with putting all your effort into shock value is that it tends to only work once. While Jackass 3D is hilarious on the first viewing, it’s hard to imagine it being too rewarding over repeated viewings. The previous two films have the same problem, as does the TV series; the surprise factor is such a big part of the appeal that, once it’s gone, there’s a major drop-off in enjoyment. The only way to curtail it is to keep the volume of production up, so there’s always newer and more outrageous stuff on the market.
Which, let’s be honest, can’t last forever, and the cracks are starting to show. Knoxville’s knocking on 40, and he sure looks it, while the rest of the team seem just that little bit more reticent about putting their genitalia on the line. There’s an odd kind of melancholy mixed in with the frat-boy camaraderie, a weird sense that this might be the last hurrah, the big send-off. This is underlined by the use of Weezer’s song Memories, a tune all about wistful nostalgia and the fruitful follies of youth. If Knoxville bangs out another one of these, I’ll be very surprised.
In the final analysis, you already know if you’re going to get anything out of this latest foray into high-octane idiocy. Jackass 3D won’t convert any new fans to the cause, but the old guard will be in hog heaven.

_TRAVIS JOHNSON