A Lot More Entertaining Than I Expected, Very Laugh Out Loud Funny

Rating: 7/10 (1 March 2012)

I don't know if you'd say I was lucky enough, but I did get the chance to see this tonight in a special screening. It's the kind of movie I looked at while watching the trailers and asked 'Why?'. And seeing it at the screening for free is probably the only way I would go. But, to my surprise, the movie is pretty damn funny. Certainly it's a bit inexplicable in many areas. But if you forget a lot of the logic leaps, the situations are funny. The attempt to be different and poke fun at clichés is pretty obvious, but none the less there are many funny moments.
As I said, there are issues with the logic of the film. Right off the bat we meet our two main characters, polar opposites in high school, Channing Tatum's character being the popular jock who makes fun of Jonah Hill's character, the dork. They're fairly clichéd as far as HS stereotypes go, but this actually feeds into the film later when we see those clichés destroyed by today's often indescribable cliques. Somehow, both of these guys end up as cops, something that initially seemed puzzling to me, since neither of them seem like they would want to be cops. But really, it's just an excuse to get on with the jokes, so it's easily overlooked. Soon, our fumbling duo is sent into high school as undercover cops to take down a new drug being passed around. Really, this story is nothing more than an excuse to make jokes about clichéd situations, but surprisingly the jokes are pretty funny. Clichés are definitely broken. The cool kids at school aren't jocks, but socially conscious teens who care about the environment. In fact, the entire social spectrum is flipped upside down.
There are some fairly funny moments. Highlights include the visions induced by a high Jonah Hill and a highway chase in which nothing goes as expected. Sadly, the film isn't particularly memorable. It's funny enough, and the humor is well written, but the actors are what you'd expect them to be. Jonah Hill is Jonah Hill here, and Channing Tatum, while surprisingly funny, is still Channing Tatum. My favorite is actually Ice Cube, who appears as the Lt. in charge of the Jump Street operation. He's funny as the angry chief, and they do in fact call this out, though it seems a bit forced. None the less, it's been a while since Ice Cube made an appearance, and he's pretty funny here. The rest of the cast is decent, though none really as memorable as Cube, or even Hill and Tatum for that matter.
The writing is mostly to blame here. The story is weak, weak enough to bring a lot of the rest of the film down. The film requires a huge suspension of disbelief and you can't help but wonder if everyone in the film is an idiot for overlooking so many numerous coincidences. They sure do talk about how Tatum looks too old for high school, and yet not one person thinks that maybe he IS too old for high school? Other leaps in logic make you wonder how stupid the film can get, but again, it really isn't about the story, it's about the jokes. In fact, that's really the only reason that this is getting a 7. Even if I don't want to admit it, I did laugh quite a bit at this film. Tatum and Hill have great chemistry and the humor bounces between them very well. I AM fairly tired of Hill's comedy schtick, but combined with the poking fun of clichés and even at the film itself, it's a pretty consistently funny movie. Heck, there's even a cameo that almost makes it worthwhile, though I am sure you can probably guess what that is.
With so many films coming out that really are nothing to write home about, 21 Jump Street isn't a bad way to kill time at the theater. It's certainly funnier than I expected. Not a great film, but a funny one and maybe worth your time.