Video Review: Krook3d / Krooked 3-D

3-D technology is nestled somewhere at a midpoint between the downfall of western civilization, and a sixty-year-old tendency of the motion picture industry that strives to forfeit on whatever generous, sparse compliments could be given to modern society’s attention span. But Krooked is not looking to rejuvenate a declining skate video market in the same way Hollywood is holding onto a morsel of hope from some blue lizard Pocahontas thing, which is really only a prolonged distraction from the fact that the only other good news they have usually comes in the form of shitty Vince Vaughn movies. (Note: Not all Vince Vaughn movies suck, dude’s got some classics.)

At this point, three-fourths of Krooked’s videos, with Krooked Chronicles being the sole exception, have been accompanied by some sort of production gimmick. Not necessarily bad, or gimmicky gimmicks, because Gnar Gnar and Gnaughty both came with their merits as welcome changes of pace from the epicness that bogs down and causes skate videos to age poorly, but aspects that make them stand out from the bunch. A greater resource of consistently fun videos that come with a wink back at the less self-important age of skateboard video productions does not exist on the same level outside of the minds at Krooked. Up until now at least, because 3-D is a time sensitive gimmick, and people will eventually stop caring about it. And because nobody in their right mind wants to put on 3-D glasses to watch a skate video, no matter how out of the box it may have seemed at the time.

It’s a shame that their production gimmick of choice the third time around is something that simply put, sucks. Beyond that, all of the fun hallmarks you expect from a Krooked video are there — everything is to the point, fast paced, has no objectionable music, and with a great selection of spots (some of which were evidently chosen to *pop* more than others once you had the glasses on.) The video is segmented by city, a la E.S.T., with New York, a section for the Girl park, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles all represented. The skating is obviously not done in hopes of altering your perception (ha ha!) of gravity and physics like many videos have done so in the past several years, and the best tricks typically come in the form of noseblunts on trees and newfound ways to skate the L.A. High banks.

But wait, isn’t there a 2-D edit that we can watch instead?

Yeah, there is, except that we’re talking about a 3-D video here, there is no reason for them to put an equal amount of time and effort into a 2-D edit. It’s not a non-annoying version of the actual video, just a barrage of second-angles. All the better angles, better tricks, and better music was saved for the technology that the video was named for.

With all that being said, Krooked is a forerunner as one of the finer skate video production houses these past ten years. Given that the production at hand is such an of-the-moment thing that already pisses so many people off, it’s going to be hard to care about Krook3d in the same way their other three videos will hold devout places in our hearts as reminders that the 2000s were not only about bloated epics and accelerating slow motion.

But nobody, even the most adamant 3-D-opposing individual, is taking this video too seriously. It just would have been preferable to see them take a different direction with it. And if you want to bring the whole “art” thing into the picture…great art, like Waka Flocka and Gucci Mane, is always polarizing, which is exactly what a 3-D skate video is and should be.

(Unrelated to the 3-D rant, but related to the video…This video has really good cameos: Rick Howard, The Muska, Koston, Hosoi, and Jason Dill.)

— By somebody who is still upset with spending $18.50 to see Avatar.

19 Comments

  1. “like Waka Flocka and Gucci Mane, is always extremely polarizing” – BURRRRRRRRR

  2. hmmmmm….stfu…snack is on top of updates unlike he was last yr around this time.. if u dnt like the updates gtfo or dnt be SOFT!

  3. who doesn’t like updates? keep up nigga. no days off. dipskatedipskatesdipskate

  4. this site kills it but you’re off on this one. krook3d was awesome, and the 2D edit is great (although the music is definitely not as good as the Budos Band soundtrack of the 3D edit). Also, no one has mentioned that, while fun, the skating is actually really good in this video. Noseblunt a log, tailslide kickflip courthouse, front tail front heel, manderson’s mad vertical wallride, etc. Everyone was killing it and having fun at the same time, and bottom line: this video gets you hyped to go out and skate

  5. i don’t know why everyones trying to rip on this vid. everybody is taking themselves WAY too SERIOUS nowadays. i didn’t even have the glasses and was hyped on it. great team, mikeanderson is killin it. P.S. chillthefuckoutniggas

  6. if you watch 3d without the glasses it still is sicks as fuck. kinda reminds me of digicam footage. what do you mean “better tricks”?

  7. Great video…a lot of fun going on…important for skate videos these days…excellent flow…3D was totally unecessary…but I guess they would need a different title…expectations might be higher…would be less gimmicky

    Holla

  8. Was Cromer’s footplant to nose manual not one of the nastiest tricks this year?

  9. jeez, you should just write a book on your feelings torwards the video and sell it at Tompkins


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