A Mockery

Rating: 2/10 (9 March 2012)

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are inept rookie cops. The chief assigns them to an undercover squad comprised of young looking police officers who pose as high school students. Their first assignment is to infiltrate a burgeoning drug ring selling dealing what's called HFS.
The last time anyone saw Hill in a feature film he didn't look anything like this. It's obvious that 21 Jump Street was filming somewhere in-between his recent weigh loss. Scholars could looks back at this as the initial phase of Skinny Jonah Hill, and from all I can tell a dire career move. A healthy lifestyle is important, but when you're a young actor with a lofty gimmick it's advised you stick with it.
Our other lead, Tatum, is far outside his comfort zone of dancing and combat roles. As one of the few who saw last year's The Dilemma I assume you Channing Tatum had no ounce of comedic timing in that film. Instead of playing the foil to Hill, Tatum's Jenko is also represented as a comedic character. Shockingly dumb, he can't remember the Miranda warning. But not only are the leads played up as fools, every breathing character in the film's world has been dealt the same surreal card.
Punchlines and sight gags abound in what sounds like a serious plot. The YouTube demographic gets service through the colorful titles that appear during the phases of a HFS high. They're weak efforts but do offer sheer numbers to overpower less analytical audiences. In the past I have indeed found myself falling into the laughter along with the crowd, much like how the peer pressure gets to the students of this movie, but the closest I could come to mustering but a smile came by a quip from Ice Cube of all people.
Back on track with the story. High school has changed a lot since our heroes graduated in 2005—if you can look at them and buy that. What made Schmidt a nerd now makes him part of the cool crowd. Sports are all but shunned, leaving Jenko on the outside. This might be the surprise of 21 Jump Street that is to say if the film offers one. It took some guessing to identify the drug supplier, more a fault of the bizarre writing—there isn't an adult figure in the school who cares about the well-being of students.
Despite sharing a title and cameos from the most famous leads of the series, 21 Jump Street bares so little in common with the TV show that the only comparable films is the unrated home release of 2005's The Dukes of Hazzard. 21 Jump Street is one lowbrow, violent, swear-ridden, manic flick that's as mature as its director duo of Phil Lord & Chris Miller.
21 Jump Street is without shame, even going to the extent of taunting the audience with its referential nod toward the remake/reboot movement. Even speaking as a non-fan of the TV series, I find the mockery overbearing. It's not simple enough to say they flipped a TV drama into a teen comedy, they flipped it into a particularly crude one.
Check out my video review at site VaughnOnMovies.com