Adam Sandler could have done this better

Rating: 1/10 (5 October 2013)

What do the movies "Jack and Jill" and "Batman and Robin" have in common? Two things. One, they are both considered to be some of the worst films to ever plague cinema. Two, they are both better than "21 Jump Street". "21 Jump Street" is a comedy film loosely based around a TV show running from the late 80s to the early 90s. While the TV show had heart and thought put into it, the film version disregards the original to throw in as much juvenile humor, stupid characters, unfunny jokes, and desperate attempts at comedy it has.
The film starts off with our two main characters in high school. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) is an awkward nerd while Jenko (Channing Tatum) is a jock who picks on Schmidt. Cut to a few years later where both of them are in the police academy and discover that their weaknesses are the other one's strength. A relationship forms between the two based around the fact that the two are using each other and we skip past the building of their friendship in a montage of Schmidt helping Jenko in the academic field while Jenko helps Schmidt in the physical field. The montage brings us to their graduation where they are welcomed into the police force and they are now good friends because of events we never witness. They are placed on park patrol and come across a group of drug dealers. They capture one of them but due to incompetence, the police have to let the dealer go and Schmidt and Jenko are reassigned to an old police program located at 21 Jump Street.
At 21 Jump Street, the two meet Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) who reveals to them that they have been chosen because of their youthful appearance, and from what earlier scenes tell the audience because they are incompetent. The duo are sent into a high school to investigate a drug ring where they get their identities mixed up and have to go to the other one's classes. Schmidt is put into a drama class where he meets a girl named Molly (Brie Larson) and later becomes friends with a popular kid named Eric (Dave Franco). As the mission continues, Schmidt becomes more interested in being popular and being in high school than he does on cracking down on the drug dealers, which in turn causes a split between him and Jenko.
The characters of Schmidt and Jenko are the overall largest problem with the movie. They are unfunny, unlikable, and they are incompetent. All we know about their relationship is the fact that they became friends based around the fact that they were using each other, then we see a montage of them working together, and then they are suddenly best friends. To add insult to injury, there is no chemistry between the two. A problem with their characters is their arcs exist for lame jokes and that they make them look even more incompetent. Schmidt having trouble firing a weapon is a little acceptable but Jenko's inability to remember his Miranda Rights makes him look dumber and makes the police force look stupid to allow someone like that to stay on the force. I thought that at the end of the movie they would learn a few things and mature. What does the film do instead? Throw out a perfect opportunity for real and interesting character development in place for a stupid, unfunny, and disgusting penis joke.
The humor in this movie is at the lowest form of comedy and it is all desperate. Ellie Kemper, who is funny on "The Office" as Erin, portrayed Jenko's chemistry teacher and was only around for a cheap joke about how she was attracted to Jenko who was supposedly a student. One thing that really bugs me is that some of the comedic moments in this movie are things I would normally find funny, but this film takes what I like and turns it into another annoyance for me. Unfunny and just plain desperate for laughs, "21 Jump Street" sinks to use some of the most juvenile humor I have ever witnessed. How come Adam Sandler and his movies are criticized for having juvenile humor but then this movie gets appraise from critics and the general audience?
Of all the movies I have seen, this is the one that I regret watching the most. Watching this film was a depressing and aggravating experience that did nothing but make me lose trust in my friend's opinions who suggested this movie to me. Horrible, unfunny, unlikable, stupid, and obnoxious characters, a story that makes the audience route for incompetence, completed with an overall horrible script and unfunny jokes, "21 Jump Street" is one of the worst movies I have ever seen and it does nothing but causes me anger. While the late and great Roger Ebert said this about another movie, it applies to me here, "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it." (Roger Ebert, "North" review). There are not enough negative words in the world to describe what this piece of garbage is.