Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee Man, and the rest of the Jackass family, featuring several cameos from non-Jackass alumni ranging from Eric Andre to Machine Gun Kelly.
Directed By: Jeff Tremaine
Where I Watched It: Paramount Plus
English Audio Description Available?: Yes
Unfortunately, Paramount Plus decided I did not need to even finish the outtakes for this film, let alone view any of the credits, and made the choice to rip me out of Jackass Forever during the end outtakes, so i do not know which company provided the audio description or the narrator. I also didn’t finish the outtakes.
The Plot: There is no plot. It’s just the Jackass family doing random pranks, stunts, and shenanigans.
What Works: They successfully made a Jackass film. As an individual who was able to see the first two Jackass films, the first being enjoyable, and the second making me physically ill, I didn’t know what to expect from attempting to watch this as a blind individual.
So, it’s not the same. In some ways, that’s a good thing, because I couldn’t see all the excrement and genitalia that is prevalent throughout the film. And the films more disgusting stunts are far less disgusting as a side effect. Somehow, having a narrator having to actually describe what is going on is more entertaining than some of the actual stunts.
While the Jackass boys haven’t grown up, that’s the point. That in 2022, after a terrible pandemic, the Jackass crew came back and gave us good old reliable Jackass. They were still very much committed to the dumbest stunts, the most dangerous, and they didn’t back off now that they are older. They just went for it, and managed to attract a handful of celebrity cameos along the way.
I might be outgrowing this franchise, personally, but i can’t totally begrudge them for consistency, because that’s what many people want out of this franchise. They aren’t looking for elevated humor, now that they are older. They are looking for dicks and balls to be severely punished. And that’s what you get.
What Doesn’t Work: Somehow, in an effort to keep up with an ever changing landscape, I do feel like this series is always trying to out disgust its previous audience, and focuses a lot less on pranks. Previously, random citizens and normal folk were targets. Family members of the gang. It wasn’t all about body damage and torture, it was about making you laugh, and I felt the second film moved far more into making you cringe, and now Forever is pretty much 75% cringe/gross out humor, and 25% dumb stunts or pranks, with very few on unsuspecting non-cast members.
And some of those jokes are the ones that I miss the most. There was one where one of the crew was on a toilet in public, and a normal lady walks by just staring at him like he’s crazy, then the toilet explodes and launches him from it, elevating the prank even further. That kind of stuff used to be half of what this crew did, now its just a small part of it. And I miss those shenanigans. Every single prank doesn’t need to be about someone’s dick, or a bodily fluid.
The Blind Perspective: I can’t imagine what it was like to write the narration for this in the first place. I’m not missing character descriptions, because there are no characters, and this is a sequel in a long running franchise. So i don’t need to know what Johnny Knoxville looks like, and to be fair, the new cast members like Rachel, i didn’t care what they looked like either, because that is’t the point.
It’s about describing these outrageous stunts as well as possible, since we can’t see them. And I feel like this narration did that, even using a lot of more colloquial terms like “balls” which feels very Jackass. Managing to capture the vibe of these guys in the narration itself elevates it, and we actually got some hilarious moments as this female narrator was maintaining this totally neutral, almost unimpressed tone, while describing some of the most outlandish things. I kind of laughed a bit at the juxtaposition, and just the sheer insanity of this film and matching audio description. For those hoping that perhaps porn might one day get audio description, think about this film and whether or not the movie worked for you.
in some ways, it never was going to work for a blind audience, or not as well, but by God, this team really tried to make this film accessible. IIt’s just that knowing this franchise, there’s a huge difference between being told what’s happening, and being able to see what’s happening, even to the point that the intended reaction from the audience will be different. Somehow, being told that a man in being covered in pig semen is not the same as actually seeing a man being covered in pig semen. My stomach was never turned, and that’s something this franchise managed to do to me in the past.
Final Thoughts: For my visually angled readers, this is exactly what you want it to be most likely. They haven’t grown up, and they don’t shy away. They go for broke. For a blind audience, don’t be too surprised if you have a very different experience, one that might not translate to you at all. And to Paramount Plus, fuck you good sirs,. The outtakes were still playing and you made the decision for me that I didn’t need to watch the outtakes, let alone the credits. Fuck you very much.
Final Grade: C+
Though I admit assigning a grade to this is 100% subjective. I think I’m just done with this series, and it doesn’t work for a non-visual audience, but I also didn’t want to grade it too low, because it technically delivers on its promise 100%.
