It's predictable, but the laughs sneak up on you

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 2014)

Nick Offerman had one of the great lines in 21 JUMP STREET:
"You see, the guys in charge of this stuff lack creativity and are completely out of ideas, so all they do now is recycle sh-t from the past and expect us all not to notice."
Which is funny, but even still: how do these properties get picked for remake/reboot/refranchising? Someone, somewhere thought it was a good idea to take the Johnny Depp show from the '80s and revamp it, but how'd they arrive at this particular property? Do the suits write a bunch of names on the wall and wherever the dart lands, that's what's getting remade?
In any event, 21 JUMP STREET works mostly because of its script and the chemistry between the two leads. Some of the jokes work well, others fall flat. Subverting the high school archetypes was also a clever bit. And I didn't expect to like Jonah Hill as much as I did, but that kinda goes for the whole thing. Channing Tatum made for surprisingly funny physical comedy. And it's really those two that make this work as well as it does - although, it was kinda funny seeing one person from every sitcom under the sun showing up here.
It's pretty good stuff, and as for reheating the past goes, it's a winner.
Also, really liked that Johnny Depp showed up at the end.
7/10