21 Jump Street (2012)

I've never seen the TV show "21 Jump Street." All I know is that it was a gritty cop drama back in the day starring a young Johnny Depp. That's about it. So when I heard it was being made into a comedy starring now-not-fat Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, I was skeptical for obvious reasons. Even though I have no nostalgic reasons to feel defensive of the show, it seemed like a betrayal no matter how you sliced it. And what exactly are the odds in Vegas for something being improved by the addition of the phrase "comedic re-imagining" without the inclusion of Mel Brooks? I wouldn't put too much down on it.

I have to admit that there were lines in the trailer that made me laugh. Jonah Hill staring at a knife sticking out of his back and saying "When did I get stabbed? That's awesome!" in particular got a hearty chuckle from me. The rest I wasn't really sold on. For as funny as that one line was, right after that we got Jonah Hill getting hit by a car and mumbling "I think I crapped my pants." That's when I got worried about the level of humor involved. It kind of looked like something Seth Rogan would be in, or maybe Kevin James if it was PG-13 and involved a Rob Schneider cameo.

What I'm saying is that it didn't look that funny. Holy crap was I wrong. "21 Jump Street" was amazing.

There's not really much you can say about a good comedy aside from the fact that it was good. It was funny. It was well written, it had an effective character arc for Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum so they weren't just bumbling idiots but actually seemed like real people, and there was an interesting enough story going on between all the funny stuff that it didn't seem like just a gag reel. And most importantly, I liked these characters. That's actually pretty rare for me and comedies.

::flip:: "Are these supposed to be loaded?" ::flip:: "What?" ::flip:: "We should probably unload these." ::flip:: "Naw, man. Come on. ::flip:: It's no fun that way." ::flip::

I found it quite intriguing what "21 Jump Street" did with these characters. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are two guys who went to high school together, and weren't exactly what you'd call friends. Jonah Hill was shy and while he never did anything to make himself a nerd or a geek, he was smart so of course he was unpopular. Channing Tatum was a popular lunkhead jock. Perfect casting right there.

After graduation they both become cops but wind up sucking at it pretty hardcore. Since the department wants nothing to do with them, but they still look young, they are transferred to the 21 Jump Street division, which is an undercover job going into high schools to bust drug rings. So they're go back to school, something Jonah Hill dreads and Channing Tatum thinks is going to be a cakewalk.

But school has changed in the 5 some years since they've been gone, and there's a whole new dynamic. Students are more PC, tolerant, and socially aware than before. It's not cool anymore to drive a flashy, loud car - now it's cool to have a hybrid. Kids in honors classes aren't mocked and given swirlies, and punching someone in the face isn't generally looked upon as an awesome thing. Also, there are hipsters, which completely confuses the two main characters.

Now whether or not this is a realistic change is subject to debate. It's pretty out there to think that the entire social dynamic of students can change that much in 5 years. That never really bothered me too much, though, since the film kept it pretty well within the lines of plausibility.

What that change does to the characters though is interesting. Channing Tatum is no longer the cool kid. His thuggish, arrogant behavior is met with scorn and shock, and while Jonah Hill isn't exactly Mr. Popular, he's no longer the object of ridicule. Because of that, they have to basically relearn how to act in high school, to some pretty funny results. In particular, Channing Tatum having to take AP Chemistry led to some of the bigger laughs I got from the classroom segments of "21 Jump Street." It's awesome to see the frustration and rage building up underneath the exterior of a character who's never had to think that hard about anything in his life. You can almost see the solder melting.

Aww, he's wearing a science sweater! Those are the best sweaters!

It would also be remiss to not mention Ice Cube as well. As is normal for any movie that he has a supporting role in, he runs away with every scene he's in. Someone needs to make a movie staring him and Samuel L. Jackson and call it "Angry Yelling Black Dudes." It would basically be the best movie of all time. In any case, Ice Cube screaming at Jonah Hill to "stop bothering Korean Jesus" had me near tears. Well played, Mr. Cube.

THE BOTTOM LINE - It is difficult to write about a comedy that was good without just repeating all your favorite jokes, which places them out of context anyways. Let it suffice to say that "21 Jump Street" was a huge shock to me with how much I liked it. Any diehard fan of the show might be a tad offended (especially due to an in-cannon cameo that gives a rather embarrassing death to characters from the show), but if you can look past that, "21 Jump Street" is probably going to wind of being one of the best comedies of the year. Recommended.