On paper they are a group of idiotic young(ish) Americans, dedicated to going to extraordinary, and often gruesome lengths in the name of entertainment- there should be nothing to redeem them, and by rights their association with the big-screen should probably have ended after the first film wowed and disgusted in equal measure. But their idiocy is actually only the second most important thing about them, because, all disgusting stunts aside, what these dudes lack in positive life decisions, they more than make up for in charisma and charm. It might be odd to think it, but it is precisely because they are likeable morons that we like to see them get hurt- there is a playful naivety about the unbridled joy at their fellow's misfortune that has ensured that cinema goers and DVD buyers have now shelled out three times to see their antics in big screen versions of their show. And now that third offering- imaginatively called
Jackass 3- is available to buy on
Blu-ray. I put it to you that Jackass 3 (and indeed the first two offerings) is what cinema was supposed to be about. Contentious? Yes. But not entirely inaccurate. Cinema at its most fundamental level is about affecting audiences through acts of entertainment- it's just one big authorised freak show that has evolved into something a lot more complex and intellectually nourishing. How refreshing it is then to have revisionist film-makers like the team behind Jackass, who seem to have set an agenda to re-appropriate cinema from the high-brow crowds and make it more about celebrating the wonders of human oddity, and our capacity for feats of endurance and ability. With loads of poo and that...
Nope, it's pretty much impossible to talk up Jackass 3 as anything other than a freak show. But that's exactly what it succeeds as- everybody rubber-necks when passing a motorway accident, everyone enjoys at least one tasteless joke, and everyone laughs when someone falls over: it's the basest form of humour, but it is incredibly infectious, even for those who claim to be above all of that nonsense. There is very little merit in Jackass 3 in terms of traditional motion-picture criteria, though the technical side of things is not something to be sneezed at, given how well the effects outstrip those of terrible post-production 3D films like Clash of the Titans. And we can't exactly measure plot or acting skill when both are conspicuous by their absence. So, at the end of the day it all boils down to the quality of the stunts, the reactions and how
Jeff Tremaine and the team behind the camera capture those moments on film. I say all three areas succeed.
There is a noticeable up-shift in the "extreme" nature of the stunts- it amazes me that noone was badly injured this time around- with both physical acts (Knoxville vs Bull, Knoxville vs Tree), and gross-out stunts (memorably Preston Lacy in the sweat suit) hitting "highs" in terms of their effect. It's an odd sensation, sitting watching this film, when you begin to feel something approaching admiration when the stunts come off and when, despite their best efforts, noone dies- especially when we are supposed to be disgusted by and probably worried about this culture of authorised self-harm. And to be fair to Tremaine, his direction and the camera work are actually pretty good- if you look at the Outtakes (from this film, and other Jackass projects) it becomes obvious that the Jackass boys are pretty much unfilmable (aside from Knoxville and perhaps Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn)- with almost all of them fluffing the simplest of lines at some point, and stunts going wrong repeatedly. So the fact that Tremaine has been able to scrape together a film at all should be classed as nothing short of a Herculean achievement. I do have a couple of issues- firstly, it astounds me that this wasn't released as a 3D Blu-ray. How are we supposed to ignore the fact that it was actually filmed with that medium in mind, and thus the set-ups end up lacking that extra spark when everything is geared up to a 3D screening, including the bafflingly-still-included Introduction by Beavis and Butthead when they discuss the merits of 3D in their own inimitable manner?
My second annoyance is that the forthcoming Jackass 3.5 wasn't bundled together with 3 to make a deluxe blu-ray release at this stage, which would have made for a much more prestigious overall package. But then I suppose that would robbing the Jackass fellas the opportunity to go to the bank again with a stand-alone release (albeit one released in a somewhat unconventional way), and some of them look like they could probably do with the few extra dollars. And finally, why are the most watchable member of the Jackass troup (other than Mr Knoxville)- the ever-willing and downright hilarious Chris Pontius so criminally under-used? I know there are only so many occasions you can stomach in which he has his penis out (though the baseball sequence is brilliant), but Party Boy was one of the defining characters of Jackass' rise to infamy, and his cull seems somewhat unfair.
Overall, it's definitely an upturn in quality over the second affair, and the renewed "ingenuity" of the stunts necessitated by the shift to the 3D format has definitely added in an extra level- it isn't new at all, but there is some odd comfort in seeing the familiar faces laughing and grimacing in equal measure. What we are left with is pretty much just a group of men showing off in the most perverse of ways, testing their own and our boundaries for acceptable entertainment and emerging triumphant, gasping and usually covered in some heinous concoction of bodily fluids to rousing, hearty applause. It's not clever, but it is pretty much harmless. So, remember kids, don't try this at home. But definitely watch it there.
Quality
A little bit all over the place- probably as a result of so many different cameras (of varying quality themselves- including one that actually gets vomited on during the film). But when it's good- the Phantom camera sequences- it looks great. Beavis and Butthead have certainly never looked as sharp. Colours are vibrant and excellent throughout, thought whites are often blown out, and detail level ranges from very good, on the better cameras, to noticeably poor on the worse devices, but overall is quite impressive. I just wish this was a 3D blu-ray, and hopefully the studio will address that soon enough. The sound is equally good- with some post-production tinkering likely responsible for the more bombastic moments. The bass can lack in certain scenes where it should be heavier-hitting, but overall everything sounds great, including clean, crisp dialogue (an achievement given the assorted mumblings of the stars) and excellent sounding music tracks.
Extras
Not as much as I'd have liked, since there is usually a massive amount of unused footage available on Jackass releases, but then there is the forthcoming Jackass 3.5 to consider. The Making of featurette is reasonable, and offers some insight into the surprising level of technical work that went into the film's production, but what is sorely absent is a cast commentary, which surely would have been excellent, letting the stars relive their pain and reacting to the stunts afresh. Hopefully that's another one for the 3D release? Unrated version of feature The Making of Jackass 3D (28 mins) Deleted Scenes (16 mins) Outtakes (27 mins) Trailer (1 min) Digital Copy DVD Copy, featuring Anaglyph 3D and four pairs of 3D glasses. Jackass 3 is available to
buy on Blu-ray and
DVD now.