Viewed in
2013
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Loosely based on the TV show, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star as young-looking cops who go undercover in a high school to sniff out a drug ring.
Liked
Sneaky comedic writing, funny performances by the leads.
Thoughts
The sound you hear is me eating crow, after poopoo-ing on yet another stupid remake of an obscure TV show. But this was really charming, clever, and funny.
Big ups to the writing. I enjoyed the unrealistic slapstick and lowbrow jokes because they were done with such fun energy and devoid of cynicism. Even when the leads were at their dumbest, they still made me laugh out loud. At the same time, I was tickled by the sneaky smart dialog and creative trope-twisting, such as the running gag of everyone expecting a vehicle explosion, then nothing happens. Michael Bacall's screenplay also got good comedic mileage out of the whole "what you knew in high school no longer applies" theme. As Tatum's character complained in exasperation: "High school just doesn't make sense anymore". Even the self-referential jokes made me laugh.
The charm factor was very very high. Tatum and Hill were extremely funny together and had excellent chemistry as the buddy-cop leads. Even though casting "Ice Cube as the angry black dude" was a tired choice, he did deliver the goods. Ellie Kemper was hilarious as the horny teacher with the hots of Tatum. And the cameos were perfectly timed and executed.
If I had to nitpick, it would be that James Franco's brother's character wasn't that interesting for such a big role, and the finding the drugs plot wasn't interesting either.
Now, I've never seen the original 21 Jump Street TV show, but clearly the film was a complete departure in tone and genre. So it still had the problem of sharing the same title and premise, but not at all being in the spirit of the original source.
But as a stand alone feature, it was extremely funny and entertaining, thanks to some clever comedy writing and game performances by Tatum and Hill. Definitely one of the best surprises of 2012.
