XGames 3D the movie

Opening today at selected theaters and running for a week is XGames 3D the movie. Freestyle motocross, vert BMX, skateboarding, snowboarding and Rally Car driving are featured and there is plenty of gnarly action. There are featured personalities and highlights from last year’s events as well as memorable moments from previous events. Jake Brown and Danny Way’s mega ramp slams are crazy to see on the big screen.

I have not seen any of the recent crop of 3D movies. XGames 3D The Movie is a large scale application of the 3D effect but after a while I forgot about it. I probably would have enjoyed it just as much as a normal big screen experience, although you do get a good sense of the scale of the MegaRamp.

It was great to see some of the Danny Way milestones, as well as Matt Hoffman’s BMX backflip and the first moto double backflip in competition, presented at that scale. I was quite moved by the Megaramp finale – with Danny Way continuing to compete after a bad slam – even though I had watched the thing whole thing on YouTube a year ago.

I’ll rate it better than Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince but not as good as District 9 or the latest Star Trek even with the 3D and I will partially agree with Slash that it was f***ing Amazing!

Kilwag’s review after the jump.

The Editor weighs in.

I thought it was surprisingly pretty good, although the opening credits sequence was so awful that I was tempted to leave right then and there, demanding my money back even though it was a free preview! The voiceover is often hard to stomach, especially early on. I actually enjoyed the motorcycle and rally car racing footage. The snowboarding and minimal street skating footage was pretty bland. Thankfully they were short sequences. It seems like they couldn’t figure out if they were making this movie for kids or adults. I wish they would have cut out all the hype and treated it with more seriousness, or gone for more levity like the old ski or motorcycle movies, like say On any Sunday…. There are a few obnoxious instances of “Hey, look at this shot in 3-D!!!!” I know they need justify the extra expense, but at times it was pretty heavy handed. Jake Brown’s famous slam is horrifying to watch in 3D, even if you’ve been desensitized to it by watching it on You Tube a million times. Danny Way’s shin slam on the megaramp is also extremely brutal. To my surprise, the megaramp footage is by far the most dramatic and successful part of the film. All faults aside, the movie was very entertaining. Much better than I thought it would be. — Kilwag