Jackass 3D (2010)

Hollywood just gets out of control sometimes, especially when it comes to milking something successful. I mean, how many 3D movies have been released lately, especially after the success of Avatar? It's getting to the point that just about any movie will be made in 3D nowadays, including the movie I'm reviewing right now, Jackass 3D. Yes, you read that title right. Not only did someone decide to make a third Jackass movie, but they made it in 3D. I'd ask why, but I'm afraid someone would tell me the answer.

Following in the footsteps of the TV show and movies that preceded it, Jackass 3D sees the nine usual suspects — Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Preston Lacy, and Jason "Wee Man" Acuña — engaging in stunts, pranks, and practical jokes that are dangerous, disgusting, and depraved. And it's all in glorious 3D!

When MTV first started airing the Jackass TV show ten years ago, I didn't think that we'd still be talking about it a decade later. But here we are in the year 2010, talking about the third Jackass movie. Even as a fan of the franchise, I'm still flabbergasted that it inspired one movie, let alone a whole trilogy. Who'd have ever thought it?

Though Jackass 3D has plenty of gross-out gags and awkward male nudity, it's actually tamer than you might expect. A lot of it simply goes back to the roots of the show, which saw the crew simply putting themselves in harm's way, putting strangers into Candid Camera-style situations, and generally being jackasses. And all of it is as funny as a Jackass fan could hope for.

Like the show and the first two movies, not every segment works. Did we really need the bit where Bam Margera gives us a wiener's-eye-view while he pees on people? Or the segment where a pig eats an apple that's wedged between Preston Lacy's butt-cheeks? How about Johnny Knoxville dressed as Santa, sitting in the top of a tree that's being cut down? Yeah, they're good for a laugh, but not a lot of them. The rest of the movie makes up for it, though, by being as outrageous as the Jackasses have always been. You could argue that it's just more of the same from them, but sometimes more of the same is still pretty good.

But did the movie really need to be in 3D? Probably not. There's actually a few scenes that are still 2D. But the scenes that put the 3D to good use are even funnier because of it. The 3D puts you right in the middle of the segments, which only makes them more gross when bodily fluids come flying at the camera and funnier when you realize that's probably the reaction they were going for in the first place.

You know exactly what you're getting out of a movie titled "Jackass 3D." If you're a fan of the franchise, you'll get a kick out of it. If you aren't, then you probably won't be seeing it anyway. Personally, I got exactly what I wanted out of the movie: a good time. Jackass 3D was a heck of a lot of fun that earns a solid three and a half stars on the usual scale. Happy tenth anniversary, Jackass, and thanks for the schadenfreude.

Final Rating: ***½