21 Jump Street (2012)

Pretty Good

Please don't spend money on this.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

As you would be aware by now 21 Jump Street is a remake of the television show from the 80s with the same name. This is a nice remake and it could be said that the film serves more of a nostalgic homage to the 80s than it does trying to be a standalone feature film. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are good as the mismatched duo and some side characters are quite funny. The film is more of a list of running gags and action pieces. Watch out for the cameo by Depp.

Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to the big screen version of his TV Show 21 Jump StreetThis isn't my type of humour, but its not without its moments. A few scenes raised a smile, but overall it's just not my cup of tea. Depp has two small scenes alongside his former co star Peter De Luise (son of Dom Deluise) as their characters from the TV show.This movie reminds me of the Spice Girls, as their music is not my cup of tea, but if I hear a song of theirs on the radio, chances are, I'll be singing along to Victoria Beckham and co. So I don't dislike them. The humour here isn't aimed at me, but I did smile and chuckle a few times. So I didn't dislike it either.21 Jump Street grossed $138million at the domestic box office to end 2012 as the 21st highest grossing movie of the year!!

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum band together in what appears to be yet another remake of a popular TV show of the same name. After a significant number of failed attempts to bring a televised source material to the big screen in an accurate fashion, it is understandable why people may approach this with low expectations. Against all odds, Hill and Tatum manage to bring their A-game to the table with their feverishly strong comedic appeal to grip us for an insanely hilarious comedic fare. Playing a duo of undercover cops with a diminishing sense of intelligence, these two make an irresistible pair for this devilishly raunchy buddy cop comedy directed by the likes of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller who make a remarkable achievement of paying tribute to the popular source material while taking many liberties that create only a minimal resemblance of the 80s TV show. It is a movie that demands you to prepare for an all-out laugh-out-loud galore. This film follows Schmidt (played by Jonah Hill) and Jenko (played by Channing Tatum), two men reuniting seven years after their high school graduation to attend a local police academy. While their graduation is success, these two prove to be way too amateurish to properly execute their jobs at law enforcement officers after they manage to botch their first arrest. This leads to their boss Deputy Chief Hardy (played by Nick Offerman) to transfer them to, wait for it.....21 Jump Street, an underachieving police department run by the foul-mouthed Captain Dickson (played by Ice Cube) who assigns them on a case that sends them back to high school as undercover cops disguised as students to bust the school's drug dealer who happens to distributing some mind- altering substances. As the duo becomes engulfed in reliving their high school days including partying and school plays, their social life with the fellow students put their jobs in danger. This movie is not quite devoid of the typical buddy cop formula that has dominated the subgenre for the past few decades. But with the brilliant sleight of hand by the directors Phil Lord and Christoper Miller, a a solidly executed script, and the comedic adrenaline of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum; this movie works astonishingly well. It is funny almost consistently and rarely lets a single moment go to waste, even when the jokes border on the line of distasteful. And each time Hill and Tatum appear on screen, laughter almost immediately dominates the air as their chemistry allows us to relish in each scene. The script effectively blends its raunchy R-rated sex humor with clever messages about high school popularity and friendship, which come to productive use when the two leads get mixed with a crowd of high school cliques. In particularly, Jonah Hill's Schmidt forms a romance with cute blondie named Molly, played by Brie Larson, which comes to his surprise considering his lack of popularity in high school as demonstrated in the opening scene with him and the then-super- popular Jenko. Furthermore, the film also makes effective use of poking fun at high school stereotypes which accounts to some good laughs every now and then. But most importantly, it is the comedic performances by Hill and Tatum that keeps things flowing. And kudos should also go to Ice Cube who brings his foul-mouth, wise-cracking fever to the screen each minute we see him, and Rob Riggle who lets his comedic talent shine nearly every chance he gets. And when the characters finally get the chance to pull their guns out in the climax, viewers are treated with a sweet little cameo. 21 Jump Street is an exciting comedic endeavor that shows that Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum make an effective team when tackling the buddy cop genre. The movie is funny, charming, and blisters with seemingly endless comedic fever that will, of course, turn off those alienate by a long line of raunchy humor that comes at almost consistently. If can withstand the crudeness, come along for the ride.

There are some parts of "21 Jump Street" that are funny. The trouble is, they are all very predictable and evidence that this genre of film (begun by "Superbad") may be beginning to die.For a basic plot summary, this film sees two rookie cops given an undercover assignment back in their old high school. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) was the high school loser now turned cooler, while Jenko (Channing Tatum) was the high-profile jock who now has trouble reclaiming that identity.Like I said, there are a few genuinely funny moments in this movie. Unfortunately, they are very few and far between. This type of comedy has been made so many times that it is almost as if the jokes can be seen coming from a mile away.It doesn't help that Jonah Hill's "trying to escape adolescence" character might be starting to wear thin after a number of similar flicks. In all fairness, he does provide probably the funniest gags of the film, but it just isn't quite as funny as it used to be.And then, of course, there is Channing Tatum. Women will likely give this film a full star higher rating just by looking at his sculpted physique. Men, on the other hand, will probably be more likely to recognize how wooden he can be at times. He isn't a total loss, but he won't be nominated for any Academy Awards anytime soon.Overall, "21 Jump Street" is the typical crude, profane, & stupid comedy seen a million times since "Superbad" had such great success. That genre is (or at least should be) on its way out.