I thoroughly enjoyed both of the previous Jackass films, and also extracted great joy from watching the television series as well as the related band of raucous programming, including Wild Boys and Viva La Bam.

This being true, when I caught the stinky, fecal matter-stained wind that a third Jackass movie with an added dimension was on its way to theaters, I became excited.

In fact, I decided to make Jackass 3D the first movie I saw in theaters on opening night with a ticket I purchased with my own money in a very long time. I mean, how could it be anything but great?

Bone-breaking stunts, hilarious practical jokes, gag-inducing gags, and the promise of dickloads of full-frontal male nudity seemingly ensured I was in for quite the treat.

It’s true that I flinched a little bit when handing over my $13 for a single admission pass, but my optimism remained remarkably high.

Review:

Throughout the many gags, jokes and stunts, I found myself laughing hysterically at the level of ridiculosity of some of the skits Johnny Knoxville and his band of brain-damaged brothers were performing. However, I also found myself sitting quietly in my seat, merely observing what was going on without really ever reaching the point of gut-busting laughter that the first and, more notably, second installations in the franchise induced.

It almost seemed as though Knoxville, Margera, Dunn and the others weren’t really as inspired or eager to perform insanely dangerous stunts as they had been in the past. I can’t say I blame them since they’ve been doing this crap for ten years now, but I found myself wishing a lot of the stunts were bigger and more glorious.

That’s not to say there aren’t those ridiculously stupid bits where you cringe from the on-screen pain but shed tears of solid laughter, because they are certainly there. Just not in the quantity or of the creative quality we saw in Number Two.

One thing that really bothered me was the amount of breathtakingly disgusting shit I was forced to view. Way too many skits had way too many people shooting way too many things out of their asses. And Steve-O, as much as I enjoy him, really took some things to the point where I was actually gagging. No doubt that’s what they were going for, but I certainly could’ve done with more mini bike wrecks and considerably less diarrhea volcanoes. There’s also a bit where Steve-O drinks a cup full of Preston’s milky sweat. It was too much.

The 3D, which I was hoping would be used to a brilliant effect, was probably the most disappointing aspect of the entire film. While it did add a little bit to the level of engulfment the movie provided, as 3D was meant to do, it’s rarely used to even a quarter of its potential. In fact, when the movie comes out on Blu Ray, people who rent it for a few bucks will really not be missing out on much at all.

There’s just so much good that could’ve come from added dimension, but so little of the potential was taken advantage of. There were some awesome shots, one involving a rubber dick shooting towards the screen, one shot of Steve-O inside of a port-a-potty being blasted into the air with bungee cords, and the insanely impressive ending sequence, but moments like this happen less often than I would’ve preferred.

Final Words:

I was definitely disappointed with Jackass 3D. It only got a fraction of the laughs out of me that its predecessors did, and a lot of that was due to the fact that the Jackass crew just seems to be running out of the great ideas they once had, thanks in part, no doubt, to the many cases of head trauma they’ve surely encountered.

Not only that, but the crew just seems less excited about what they’re doing; less enthusiastic to perform dangerous stunts. Therefore, they just do less of them. With that decrease comes an increase in disgusting skits that literally had me and many other audience members gagging and fighting back our dinners.

Still, the most disappointing thing about the movie was the lackluster use of the 3D technology, which makes it really hard to recommend spending such a high amount of money on a ticket.

Final Score: 6.75/10 (Below Average)