21 Jump Street
Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube
Rated: 14A
Running time: 109 minutes
Really? It's come to the point of re-booting 21 Jump Street? Don't get me wrong - I was the right age at the time to have enjoyed the original TV series (bonus for being shot in Vancouver). But why would anyone bother to re? Oh, how silly of me. This one involves memories of a young Johnny Depp. Well, that does make sense as something on which to capitalize. And capitalize they did.
Anyone not familiar with the original undercover high school story need not worry. The tone is set to "silly spoof" pretty early with Jonah and Channing graduating high school and police academy together. Quickly they are shown to be buffoons and are dispatched to 21 Jump Street "because the police are completely out of ideas and rebooting something from the '80s was all anyone could think of." This self-awareness humour is pretty thick through the whole movie, which can best be described as a stereotype smorgasbord.
When going undercover, identities get switched so the short, heavy, smart guy is signed up as the popular jock and the athletic handsome dummy is thrown to the nerds. Their mission: To stop a new designer drug that is killing people.
In the end, this is a "good enough" comedy that you will enjoy if you don't expect too much. This sentiment is pretty much signed, sealed and delivered when the always awesome Ice Cube shows up a bunch of times as the angry black captain whose only joke is to point out that he's an stereotypical angry black captain. Ice Cube, and this movie, could be so much more.
