By Standing around a tetherball pole with a beehive suspended by a cord, two nervous underwear-clad guys listen as a beekeeper explains, “It takes about 100 [bee stings] to kill a man.” to which one of the “jackasses” insists nervously, “There’s 50,000 in the hive!”
Four years after “Jackass Number Two,” “Jackass 3D” hit theaters this weekend to eager crowds who awaited the return of the destructively creative crew made famous in the original show over ten years ago.
Beavis and Butthead open the film. Butthead says, “You’ll see the jackasses like no human beings have ever seen them before … in 3D!” before he demonstrates the reality of 3D by slapping Beavis in a manner reminiscent of their TV show.
The film takes off on a high note with a slow-motion montage of each “jackass” being maimed, battered or otherwise stricken by something to knock them off their feet, be it an enormous dead fish, a bowling ball or a faux hand the size of a windshield.
The stunts run the gamut of idiocy, ranging from simple and stupid, to elaborate and still stupid. One of the more shocking gags comes in the middle of the film, and involves a Lamborghini, a string and a crooked tooth.
Ehren McGhehey sits in a desk chair as his cohorts tie a string around a tooth in the front of his mouth while explaining that the vehicle will extract the tooth so that they can implant it straight later. They brace the shaking victim as the car peels out and zooms away. The group watches the long string unwind before the tooth is ripped into oblivion with a horrifying click followed by the roar of mixed reactions, displaying both disgust and excitement.
After letting McGhehey catch his breath and stop clenching his mouth, the crew laughs and confesses that they don’t know how to replace the tooth.
Creative use of the stunt men is key in this film and gives comedic effect not achievable with a normal group of guys. This is apparent in one stunt involving Preston Lacy, who waddles into a convenience store after asking a stranger to watch his dog. Moments later, Wee-man, the famed little-person of the crew, walks in wearing the same outfit that Lacy wore to claim the dog and walks away as if nothing peculiar had happened. The flabbergasted pedestrian stands frozen with his empty hand still extended as his open-mouthed expression shows that the prank worked.
The use of sound, however, is also carefully thought-out and well-executed. In addition to the high-definition sounds of electric shock, fist-to-body contact, various crashes and nauseating sloshing sounds, music also enhances the movie experience.
Several stunts were named after famous songs relevant to what risky behavior was being performed. “Electric Avenue,” for example, involved fifteen stun guns hanging from strings and spanning the length of a hallway. Black and white jumpsuit-clad characters were challenged to run through the series of weapons while trying to avoid contact with the guns. Naturally, their attempts were in vain, and the zapping sounds and screams complimented the Eddy Grant song in a gut-busting manner.
The 3D effect adds an interesting element to an already established niche of cringe-worthy stunt-gags, but is not entirely necessary, especially considering the (minimum) $4 up-charge to standard movie tickets. More impressive is the consistent use of high-quality slow-motion shots that allow audiences to see every flap of skin ripple in reaction to whatever absurd assault is happening at the moment.
The movie is quick to get to the point of each gag, and crams quite a few into the one-and-a-half hour runtime. Despite the stomach-churning moments involving excrements, vomit, unsightly nudity and body hair, the film delivers again and again to achieve its ultimate goal — to make audiences gasp, wince and above all, laugh.
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