Review of Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) by Limecat — 10 Nov 2013

I've been an avid fan of Jackass since I saw CKY2K at far to young of an age. I've been hooked since, and was beyond sad after they finished the second movie. At the time, Iwas under the influence that would be the end of it. Luckily, we got Jackass 3, which was more than I could ever hope for. After three I pretty much knew it was over.

Surprisingly just a few months ago, I heard about Bad Grandpa. The premise seemed decent, and the trailer was very funny. I have to accept that Johnny Knoxville can't pull pranks on random people anymore, as he is definitely too recognizable. In an interview on the bonus features for Jackass 3.5, he says after the first season of the show he had problems with people recognizing him without the old man makeup. So even though I would rather have a Jackass 4, this isn't it, and I can't compare it to the others. It isn't that kind of movie.

Bad Grandpa is more like Borat and Bruno than any Jackass movie. Sure, there have been some similar Jackass skits in the passed, especially the "Bad Grandpa" skit from Jackass Number Two, but this movie has a story. It's apparent the story is only there to get you from one skit to the next, but that works. Most people aren't there to watch the story, they want to see people's reactions to an old man getting his penis stuck in a vending machine. In the realm of actors wearing disguises and pranking random people, this isn't the best or the worst. It definitely isn't as funny as Borat, but I would put it around the same scale as Bruno, maybe slightly higher. It's very genuinely funny, and some of the funniest parts are actually from the staged parts of the movie. Johnny Knoxville does a great job as a creepy 86-year-old man, and Jackson Nicoll did so much better than I thought possible. Also, in comparison to all other comedies we have had this year, it's definitely on my top three. I recommend it to anyone who liked Borat or Jackass.