An Interesting Look at Modern Highschool

Rating: 7/10 (15 April 2017)

After watching the absolutely appalling movie that was CHiPs a part of me wanted to see another movie that was based on a popular cop show from the eighties, and fortunately I happened to have this one in my collection. Okay, while it might not have the drawing power of Johnny Depp and Lou Diamond Phillips (and I'm sorry, but Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum simply do not come close) a part of me felt that maybe, just maybe, it would be a little better that that previous movie that I wasted $10.00 to see (and money that I simply won't be getting back again). Oh, and a colleague also highly recommended it.
Well, I have to admit that it was much, much better than that other travesty of a movie, though like CHiPs, it also turned what was originally a somewhat serious series into something that was much more humorous. Also, it also wasn't ashamed to with poking fun at itself (such as referring to it as another pointless attempt to resurrect a defunct project from the 80s). In a sense it seems that a lot of these attempts to resurrect a classic 80s series are doing so with a lot more humour than the original series had.
If you are familiar with the original series then you will know what this film is about – a couple of cops who look rather young (or are supposed to look rather young, and once again the film actually pokes fun at the ridiculous nature of this concept by pointing out that Channing Tatum really doesn't look like a high school student because he is way too old) are given an assignment to go undercover into a high school in an attempt to bust open a drug ring. The thing is that our heroes are actually a couple of goofups, one of them being pretty smart but having no physical skills whatsoever, and the other being a tough guy but basically being as thick as a brick.
The other rather amusing thing about this film is how the nature of school has changed. Mind you, a part of me finds that this concept of the school being taken over by geeks, lefties, and those of the alternate lifestyle, still seems to be rather unrealistic. While the film pokes fun at how the world has changed a lot since I was in high school, a part of me feels that the public schools are still run by the jocks, while the private schools are still run by the rich kids. In a way it seems as if what was being portrayed here was more in line with what one would expect from university as opposed to high school, though even then that is probably stretching things a little too far.
As for the film, well, I have to admit that I did really enjoy it. One of the things it does explore is how life in high school and life in the real world are two completely different things. While one might be seen as a geek in high school, once one leaves high school and enters the real world things end up changing, and changing a lot. In fact what we see here is that the roles are suddenly reversed. In my experience I have known lots of people who, when they were in high school, were considered geeks and weren't a part of the in crowd, once they left they found themselves as not only the centre of attention, but also as being the hip and cool people. In many cases, while the jocks might be the cool people in high school, once it is over they are more likely than not to disappear into obscurity (as was the case with many of the people I went to school with).