Debuting in 1999, CKY was a mix of skateboarding footage, pranks, and general miscreant behaviour and introduced us to pro boarder Bam Margera. These homemade goofs caught someone's attention, as Margera would go on to join the cast of Jackass as well as get his own show, "Viva La Bam!" He's being doing his shtick for almost ten years now and with the release of Where the #$&% Is Santa? I've officially become tired of him. In my eyes he's always been the weakest of the Jackass crew anyway and he gets up to the same old pranks this time under the guise of a holiday themed special.

The basic premise, if you can call it that, for Bam and his friends' anti-social behaviour this time is his quest to get his wife, Missy, something truly special for Christmas. And what better gift to get than Santa Claus? With a week left before the twenty-fifth, Bam heads off to Finland, because we all know Santa really lives there instead of the North Pole, to track down the big man and bring him back to Pennsylvania.

Along the way we're treated to multiple scenes of people being pushed over, property being destroyed, everyone chortling like asses, and side trips to meet various bands (including Bam's personal favourite, H.I.M.). There's also plentiful footage of Bam driving while mouthing lyrics and dancing to the songs of the soundtrack, someone getting a map forcibly tattooed onto them, and the low point of the entire endeavour when similar prank crew, The Dudeson's, arrive and make Bam's least liked travelling companion, who's car he crushed with a pine tree earlier, eat reindeer eyes and penises.

Where the #$&% Is Santa? is basically a twenty-minute sketch stretched into feature length. They've padded it out by having flashbacks to Bam's place in Port Chester as his parents, Missy and some of his friends prepare for the big Christmas party bash he intends to hold once he returns with her present. Various jokes go on for way too long and, unlike Jackass, there's really nobody here to feel sorry for when they're being heaped with all the abuse. Plus things just feel too staged. And, speaking of his former MTV show, perhaps people have judged it too harshly considering what's on display here. Through two movies and a few seasons, Jackass was never this mean-spirited. Sure, they did stupid things and abused each other but never to the lengths seen here. It's almost like Margera and co-director Joe DeVito wanted to appeal to the lowest common denominator. And in doing so, they've made the people behind Jackass look like saints.

Another problem is that none of Margera's prank ideas are as creative as his former crew. It's not hard to act like a temper-tantrum ten-year-old who breaks things and he proves it time and time again by his obnoxious attitude. He also feels the need to show us how popular he is by the amount of B-level celebrities that show up at his party (such as "Miami Ink" star, Kat Von D). Thus, the entire thing just feels like a vanity project meant to give his ego a boost.

Maybe it's just me getting older and less tolerant of this kind of crap, but I don't think so as I still find the Jackass movies to be a riot. On his own, Margera just doesn't have the panache, creativity or charm (something Johnny Knoxville has in spades) to pull it off and, unless you're a fan of his skating or past videos, you'll want to stay far away. (Chris Hartley, 12/10/08)

Directed By: Joe DeVito, Bam Margera.
Written By: Bam Margera, Joe DeVito, Joe Frantz.

Starring: Bam Margera, Brandon Novak, Jesse Margera, Chad I. Ginsburg.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Shot digitally, Where the #$&% Is Santa? looks perfectly fine on DVD. It's clean and sharp enough despite it's fairly low-budget presentation.

Extras: We get a trailer, a photo gallery of reindeers being abused and Santa being clocked with a skateboard, and twenty-two minutes of deleted scenes that are even less funny than the feature (if you can believe it).