Blogorium Review: Jackass 3.5

 As some of you may remember, I reviewed Jackass 3 nearly two months ago, and the consensus was that the prank and stunt heavy troupe of daredevils were going out with a bang. Their desire to do bodily injury was on the wane, and some of the Jackass guys were more hesitant to go crazy. Even harder to watch was how much longer it took them to get up after bad landings. The film closed out with a montage of Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Wee Man, Preston Lacy, and the rest as children, in their first appearance on the show, and during the filming of Jackass 3. It felt like a fitting closing to the series from director Jeff Tremaine, with the small caveat that they filmed a LOT more footage than the film contained.

 How much more footage? Well, if you took Jackass 3 and Jackass 3.5's runtimes, edited out the connective tissue of the latter, you'd still have nearly two-and-a-half hours, plus another fifteen minutes of scenes deleted from 3.5. The good news for Jackass fans is that none of 3.5 feels tacked on, or superfluous. You could easily switch out vignettes from the theatrical release to the home video sequel (and vice versa) and be just as entertained.

  The structure is a little different from previous Jackass films: instead of transitioning from bit to bit, there are a series of interview segments with the cast (many of which appear to be in London) that provide context for why footage didn't make it into Jackass 3. It gives parts of the film more of a documentary / making of feel, although as the interviews increasingly become excuses for more pranks (especially between Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn). There's more fun with the Phantom camera's high speed frame rate, more mountain horseplay with the Dudesons, a great fake-out prank involving a fake "human bowling ball" that's actually an excuse for Johnny Knoxville to use a remote controlled helicopter to shoot paintballs at them. We also see some of the aftermath of failed sketches, like the Blowback (an attempt to clothesline a pole with a long wooden board), some more "painted man" gags, and at least one segment I couldn't believe didn't make it into Jackass 3. Let's just say it involves a wind-up metal rat, an electric mouse trap, and Steve-O's testicles.

There's a greater sense of fun in 3.5; the laughs are heartier, the sense of glee that accompanies each stupid stunt (and many of their failed outcomes) brings back some of the juvenile glee of the TV show and the first two films. Well, for everyone except Brandon Novak: in Jackass 3, it seemed like he was just hanging around for Margera to punch during a "Rocky." In 3.5, it's clear he was involved in a few stunts (one involving riding a toilet down a ramp and the other involving belt sander "skates") that end... badly. For the suffering Novak endured, I'm a little surprised none of his bits made it into the theatrical release.

Jackass 3.5 also seems to be a reaction to the "these guys are getting old" reviews that figured into the best reviews (the film does, by the way, have a "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes). After a hesitant start from Steve-O to let an alligator snapping turtle to bite into his posterior, the boys open up for a number of ridiculous, dangerous, and silly stunts. Steve-O's excitement to run down a wooden beam surrounded by fire (while dodging flaming medicine balls) is a marked contrast to the "Why do I have to be Steve-O?" in Jackass 3. To counterpoint the last film, Tremaine opens 3.5 with the boys racing somewhere in France from the train station to a crowd of cheering fans. He closes the film with another montage of footage from the film, but set to "Young At Heart," a rebuttal to the suggestion that the Jackass crew are in any way over the hill.

 It almost seems silly putting this disclaimer so late in the review, but Jackass 3.5 is really only going to appeal to someone predisposed to enjoy the series to this point. If you didn't like it already, I don't know how this would turn you around. Fans, on the other hand, will be happy to know that Jackass 3.5's 81 minute running time is more robust than Jackass 2.5, which felt like a collection of leftover footage. While it sometimes straddles the line between full-fledged extension of Jackass 3 and an extended "making of" documentary, Jackass 3.5 never feels like a "lesser than" entry. If you're looking for more trashy fun, or just to sate your desire for comical human suffering, look no further.