It's Just Movies

— by JESSIKA OWENS —

Midgets, urine, vomit, feces, and mayhem — yes, those are the main components that compile the “Jackass” franchise. Love it or hate it, you KNOW it and in Hollywood, that’s what matters. Now imagine the midgets, urine, vomit, feces, and mayhem amplified, and by amplified I mean in 3D. The third installment of the “Jackass” movie series will be brought to us in 3D, and I have to say, I’m not sure what to think. I am a fan of the “Jackass” crew, I am just skeptical to see how they will play out in 3D.

The first “Jackass” film was brilliant in the fact that it was timed just right and it allowed for the removal of censors that would normally be found on the show, just what the audiences wanted. “Jackass 2” was brilliant in the fact that it had some uproariously funny moments, one involving a plunger and a butt. I’m hoping “Jackass 3D” will be brilliant as well, just not brilliant ONLY because it’s in 3D. I’m ready to see funnier, and perhaps grosser, if that’s possible.

“Jackass” is what it is: gross-out humor based on an immature, ridiculous circus of crap, so let’s see it. That’s what has made the series and films so popular — it has capitalized on what it knows it is. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Preston Lacey, Wee Man, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey and the slew of cameo guests all know how to make a ton of money doing nothing but acting stupid. And the reason it’s successful is because we laugh at the shenanigans. But like anything else, repetitive bull will drain the marketable material. “Jackass 3D” MUST bring us fresh stunts, fresh vomit, fresh urine, and fresh feces (the midgets need not be fresh).

One aspect of this film that I know will be new and has not been done in previous “Jackass” skits is that Party Boy, done by Chris Pontius, will be fully nude. Director Jeff Tremaine and Johnny Knoxville stated, “Party Boy won’t be scary. He’ll be very, very sexy. He got rid of that itchy thong for 3-D,” said Knoxville, with Tremaine adding: “We lost the thong so the 3-D could really come at you. The clothes finally come off.” A few other skits that I’m sure will be totally shock value worthy as well as funny include one in which one of Bam’s friends is woken up by a defibrillator, urinated on, has flour thrown on him, is punched in the eye, and finally locked in the room with vampire bats. There will be a helicopter tethered to a penis, a bungee ride in a porta potty, and a view from a penis as it urinates on people’s faces. Bam is also forced to face his fear of snakes, and anyone who saw “Jackass 2” remembers the incident in which Bam cried over being locked in a trailer with a snake, and very sheepishly replied “ya” between sobs when asked if he was in fact crying.

Injuries are not uncommon during “Jackass” filming of any kind. Bam stated in an interview, when asked what was the craziest stunt filmed so far, “Urm…I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll just say that…I was hanging on a tree, 20 feet above and I let go, and I fell 10 feet onto my nuts on another branch, and then I fell on my face…and that’s how I broke my shoulder.” Off set, Bam was involved in an altercation in which a woman stated he called her the “n” word after which she beat him in the head with a bat. As a result, the beginning of the film underwent a rewrite. Along with all the news of injuries that are reported from the “Jackass” crew, there’s also a lot of other controversy surrounding the boys, particularly regarding Steve-O and his alcohol content (come on, we all saw the Adam Corolla incident). Johnny Knoxville released a statement concerning Steve-O’s sobriety: “Steve-O’s sobriety is at its best and there is no beer on set this time around even if some of us wish there was.” He also said, “And to be honest, it’s going great. Everyone has had different injuries throughout which is a good sign and Steve-O is probably getting the best footage out of everybody. He is really going for it. He wants to prove to everyone he can do these stunts sober. It’s been two years since he had a drink now. Everyone has been real supportive of him.”

Jeff Tremaine has stated that the film will have a running time of 90 minutes, but there is so much more footage on hand that he looks forward to releasing “Jackass 3.5” in the near future, a la “Jackass 2.5.” I hope it’s funny, and from the sounds of it, shocking — in a good way, which only a “Jackass” fan could appreciate. Visually, I’m sure the depth of shooting these types of stunts in 3D will be pretty innovative and interesting — buzz at Comic Con surrounding a paint-ball scene was all positive — and everyone was raving about how great the scene looked in 3D.

I will be seeing this opening weekend, before all the shock value disappears from the Twitter feeds, Facebook updates, and general media gossip. “Jackass” is a guilty pleasure. We know we shouldn’t encourage these guys, but how can we not? They give us laughter, jaw droppings, gossip, debate, music, controversy, and midgets. Let the Dickhouse Productions mayhem begin!

3D Version:

2D Version:

. . .

Follow Jessika Owens on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessika.