If there was one flaw in the Jackass series, it’d be a lack of narrative coherence. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa seeks to right this past mistake by weaving a story out of its pranks, pratfalls, and general bodily harm; a story of a doddering old man (Johnny Knoxville) with a tendency to end up in the exact same painful situations we’ve seen in all those other Jackass movies.
Yet the first official clip from Jackass: Bad Grandpa demonstrates that Knoxville being launched through a window while wearing old man makeup is no different from Knoxville being launched through a window without wearing old man makeup. He makes a scene beforehand (leering at some poor woman who doesn’t deserve any of this), goes through a pane of glass and then gets to do a little yelling afterward.
If you’ve seen even a few seconds of this bit in other ads, you’ve seen the whole thing. There’s really nothing else to it besides Knoxville going through the window, and the only reactions he gets are open-mouthed stares (probably the same reaction most people have upon seeing ads for Bad Grandpa). The most interesting part of the whole bit is the one thing Bad Grandpa won’t be able to show- that one guy who comes rushing over to help an injured old man, and ends up forbidding the film from showing his face. He’s the hero Bad Grandpa deserves, but not the one that will actually consent to be in Bad Grandpa.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa opens October 25th, 2013.
