Nitro Circus: The Movie – Review

9th May 2013

In which people jump over things at high speed.

If you’ve not heard of Nitro Circus before it’s basically a toned down version of Jackass where the majority of performers are skilled at other things besides skateboarding. The crew is run by Travis Pastrana, a multi-talented adrenaline junkie who can ride most things with wheels really fast over tall things.

Comparisons to Jackass are inevitable. Both follow the same structure of ridiculous dare-devilry performed by a bunch of kooky characters that the makers go to great lengths to distinguish. The film was born out of MTV series as well. Compared to Jackass Nitro Circus feels like a family-friendly version. The Nitro Circus crew look like they know what they’re doing for the most part, despite showing clips from the TV series where some broke their legs in stunts gone wrong. They miss the overall mischief and ramshackle fun of Jonny Knoxville and gang. That’s not to deny that some of the stunts performed aren’t impressive. The bike/tricycle jump over a very big fall in Panama doesn’t look like the biggest distance but it made me feel sick watching it. Motor bikes being driven across water is also kind of impressive. My main issue with watching these “lovable” scamps defying the laws of gravity was that I didn’t particularly give a toss about them. Travis Pastrana is an affable host but by the end of the slim 80-odd mins he starts to become hugely grating.

The film is directed by two of the crew; Gregg Godfrey and Jeremy Rawle who decide to pepper the light hearted tone of the stunts with talking heads which stress the dangerousness of these stunts (Channing Tatum appears for some reason). Most of the time they pop up to say things like “remember these guys are putting their lives on the line” to which part me of me thinks “I didn’t ask them to”. The inclusion of an intro which shows children playing on bikes attempting smaller stunts tries to crowbar some dramatic tension into the film as though we’re watching the crew finally achieving their dreams of riding bikes in front of a crowd in Vegas. The effect of these scenes are spoilt when we cut back to the crew gurning as they fly through the air of ramps into water (I’m pretty sure Jackass did that one a few times but it was funnier).

The film also claims to be in 3D. I only watched the 2D version but I could only spot a couple of moments that may have actually used 3D effects and they look like they would have been basic at best. This is one of those films that doesn’t really need a review. If you’ve not heard of Nitro Circus chances are that you won’t be fussed. If you like them you’ll be planning on seeing it. Some of the stunts are genuinely impressive and fun. Others you may think “I really don’t care”. It all depends on whether you love adrenaline or Agatha Christie novels.

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