Crowd Report: Jackass 2 (The Bridge, 9/22)

The Bridge in LA drew one of the better audiences I?ve been with for Jackass on Friday night. I?ve mostly been with quieter demographics here, but the 9:50 show in a 325 seater was not far from Snakes on a Plane in terms of crowd atmosphere. Granted, it seemed like some people were either drunk or stoned (like Snakes at the Chinese), but the crowd was much more hyper than at the first Jackass in Westwood (with a thousand UCLA students).

I came a little late, but the trailer for Let?s Go to Prison was halfway through when I got in, and was getting laughs from the audience (which has been the general reaction). Employee of the Month was next, which got scattered chuckles, but mostly played to awkward silence. The Transformers teaser was the last ad, and just like at Pirates, the crowd went nuts for it.

I thought the opening to this Jackass was weak, but the audience was going for it, and they applauded when the title came up. After that point though, it was a complete turnaround ? I was prepared to hate this movie even though I liked the first one, but I was surprised by the inventiveness behind many of the gags; they?ve upped the ante and it actually works.

Many people clapped and cheered throughout at the various bits, but it was clear right from the start that this was probably going to have a shorter run than the first; they?ve upped the stakes (of the stunts), and so there might be a greater rush-out effect than before. General word of mouth, though, looks to be very good ? the movie is just largely riding off a cult audience.