Year: 2012
Director: Phil Lord
Country: US
Language: English
21 Jump Street was an American police procedural television
series that aired on the Fox Network. It ran from 1987 to 1991, having a total
of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-looking undercover
police officers investigating crimes in various teenage venues. The address the
title indicates is the home of the unit's headquarters, which coincidentally is
a chapel. The show was a big hit for the Fox Network and lead actor Johnny
Depp. The show brought his career to new heights; without it he would not be
the A-list actor he is today.
Made in 2012, the film reboot of 21 Jump Street has a very similar premise. A pair of underachieving cops (Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum) are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.
Made 21 years after the original television show's run, 21 Jump Street succeeds where many films set in high school have failed. Rather than showing us tired old cliches about jocks vs, nerds or dividing the school into cliques and factions, the picture shows a topsy turvey high school where anything can go. Suddenly owning a car is not cool anymore, and being incredibly nerdy (dressing up as Peter Pan) is "in". While it does sway uncomfortably close to the "buddy cop" formula, its focus on screwball and slapstick comedy make for a lot of laughs.
21 Jump Street isn't shy about pointing out the absurdities of its premise and the improbabilities of our characters being able to pass as not only high school students, but as brothers. The script is somewhat self-aware and does its best to navigate through the film without becoming tiresome, stale or a clone copy. The film is lined with dick jokes however, which gets old really fast. The mixture of low brow humor with a sneaking sentimentalism is very off putting. I wanted to believe I was watching a great comedy, but many scenes took me out of the moment and reminded me that the target demographic was probably pre-pubescent teenagers.
The camera shot transitions, scene changes and music integration were quite awkward at times. Though many people won't notice, I think 21 Jump Street needed a far better editor. While some may be annoyed, I'm glad that I didn't have to watch the television show in order to understand this movie. The picture contains bits of familiar comedic formulas, but is just different enough to keep from being predictable. 3.5/5
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