School. Guns. Cameos. Exploding chickens.

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2012)

You would not believe it even if you saw it with your own eyes. A sober Irishman? A thin Greek? A game-sealing shot by Lebron in the fourth? Even rarerit's a half-decent reboot! A reimagining of the more serious 1980s young adult crime drama of the same name, 21 Jump Street lends a comedic touch to the otherwise dreary world of underground drug trafficking. Starring an odd couple with a difference in Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, the film mostly follows the standard buddy-cop formula but deviates enough to both keep your interest and produce a handful of laughs.
Seven years ago, two kids on opposite ends of the social spectrum graduated from high school. The popular Jenko (actor's name omitted for obviousness) and overweight, nerdy Schmidt (same here) both enrol in the local police force and form a friendship, helping each other pass the course. Now fully-fledged police officers, the clueless duo are kicked out of the force and into a top-secret program, where younger-looking officers are again enrolled in high school in order to bring down a syndicated drug ring.
By a long margin, the film's best quality is its willingness to make fun of itself. Granted, the backbone of the plot is predictable enough, but gag-wise, this movie has its moments. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) take pleasure in playing off cemented audience expectations (that is, a few laughs, a gunfight or two and a couple of explosions) before even the first trailer has begun, and subsequently subverting these conventions wherever they see fit.
Essentially, they refuse to play by the rules, which can be comedy gold when used correctly. A rogue motorbike spitting sparks across the freeway collides with an oil tanker and nothing happens. That same bike runs into a pickup truck carrying a load of chickens and a deafening explosion ensues. The irony of having a man who once made a generous living badmouthing authority play a typically surly, by-the-book cop isn't lost on most, and it is Ice Cube's sheer assertion of himself as a stereotype that makes the role work. The cameos by a couple of members of the original series are good fun too.
Speaking of making roles work, Hill reverts back to his Superbad roots with his performance, but it is Tatum who is surprisingly funny as the dim-witted do-gooder Jenko. Just when it looks like he has become irreversibly typecast as either an action hero or soppy teen idol, he comes up big in a comedy, impressing with his stone-faced delivery and interplay with his far more comedically experienced co-star. While under the influence in a certain scene, Tatum utters the film's funniest one-liner, and a quote sure to be repeated in many a school and university from now on.
That said, it is the physical aspect of the comedy that outdoes the script here, and while that is no criticism of the stunt work or set pieces, a lack of somewhat more layered humour leaves the film feeling hollow; failing to live up to its full potential. The opening act is particularly burdensome. Apart from a couple of laughs during the attempted arrest of some bikers in a public park, the film proceeds to drag its feet, vainly looking for ways to intertwine jokes with storytelling until the pair are shipped off to Jump Street.
Other parts of the film still feel done to death, again a mark against the film's reluctance to go all-out in an effort to produce something truly original. It could have done without the love interest for the loser, made all the more disconcerting as it is a love between a high schooler and a grown man. Although Schmidt and Jenko start off as friends, their falling out/moment of clarity/reconciliation can be seen coming a mile away, occurring too late in the film and needlessly slowing down the second half. Yet, if you're expecting an utter disaster, like this particular viewer was, you might just leave surprised.
*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review. If you're looking for a writer for your movie website or other publication, I'd also love to hear from you.*