21 Jump Street

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Ice Cube, DeRay Davis, Ellie Kemper, Jake Johnson, Johnny Depp (cameo)
Directed by: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two underperforming cops (Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum) are enlisted to go undercover at a high school to bust a drug ring.

Review:

Tim: I'm really, really not a fan of this recent trend to remake everything from the 1980s. I know it's a cliche to complain about Hollywood being bankrupt creatively, but I'm really starting to worry. That's why 21 Jump Street is such a perplexing film. This is a remake of the 80s TV show that is actually pretty funny. That is a rare thing to find with all these remakes. Now, I'm not pretending this is a great movie, but it does work fairly well.

The main reason this works is that it takes the original concept, which was a crime drama, and turns it into a crime comedy. That's really the only way this works- you have to be able to make fun of the silliness of the whole thing. That's where the movie succeeds most. One of the funniest scenes in the whole film is the exchange about resurrecting the undercover program from the 80s because they lack creativity and hope nobody will notice. It's a very thinly veiled commentary on the ridiculousness of the whole movie. I love that the film didn't take itself too seriously. We also get some funny moments where people question the validity of 20 or 30 years old pretending to be in high school. I love the jokes this movie made about itself and its existence. That allowed me to look past the fact that this movie still shouldn't have been made.

The cast is actually really good. I love Jonah Hill, and he does a really good job here. I love that he was also involved with writing the script. Hill is just a funny, funny guy, and he works well in the role. It's crazy impressive that Hill lost 40 pounds for the role. As much as I don't like Channing Tatum, I have to admit he was pretty fun in this film. His comedic timing was quite good, and it was great that he was able to make fun of himself for being stupid (and I really do think he's stupid). Tatum and Hill had a good deal of chemistry together, and it was fun watching them interact. While I didn't quite buy their friendship, they put so much energy into their roles that it's hard not to enjoy watching it. These two together really make the movie.

The supporting cast is good. I suppose I liked Ice Cube, although he only has a few good moments. I really liked the casting of Dave Franco. It was nice to see Ellie Kemper get some work. Rob Riggle is fine, although I really don't like him. Overall, though, the cast works quite well.

The main reason this movie works is quite simply, because it's funny. It seems obvious to make a comedy funny, but so many fail in this regard. The film absolutely needed to be rated R. If this film was PG-13, we're probably looking at a complete failure. The funniest moments are those involving perverse language, sex, and drugs. While not very many classic moments, the film has quite a few laughs throughout the whole thing (I still love the, "Did you just say you have the right to be an attorney? Well, you do have the right to be an attorney if you want to..." exchange). The film just makes you laugh, and for that reason, you can overlook all the silliness.

While I enjoyed the movie, it's far from perfect. The middle of the film absolutely drags. Hill and Tatum go "deep" undercover, and for about 25 minutes, the film feels like it grinds to a halt. I got very impatient numerous times throughout the film. The worst was the few scenes before the play- it was difficult to sit through those. There wasn't quite enough here to keep our attention for 109 minutes. Unfortunately, the end of the movie is a bit of a mess. I felt like the beginning of the movie was strongest, and the quality slowly decreased as the film went on. The ending is fine, but it's just a bit unsatisfying.

Despite some flaws, 21 Jump Street is a fun, entertaining movie. I liked it more than I thought I would, and I'd definitely consider it a good movie. While I'm still not sold on all these 80s remakes, I admit that this one was worthwhile.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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