Movie Review: 22 Jump Street

It's no secret, most movie sequels suck. For every The Empire Strikes Back or Godfather II, there are thousands of uninspired, schlock fest flicks like Son of The Mask, The Hangover Part II & III, or the inevitable Transformers 6: War of the Hybrids. It's like Mel Brooks said in Space Balls, "we'll meet again in Space Balls 2: The Search For More Money." Anyways...with that in mind, it pleases me to announce that 22 Jump Street doesn't suck. In fact, the film is almost as side splittingly  funny as it's predecessor and because this sequel is perhaps, the most meta/self aware film since Wayne's World, it's even more ridiculously entertaining in it's own right.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are back as the same Police Academy rejects we saw in 21 Jump Street, but this time they get sent to college. That's it. The plot is basically the same as the last film and everyone in the movie knows it [more on the film's hyper self awareness later]. The major difference this time around is the film's larger budget allows the 22 Jump Street cast to go full on 80's action, buddy cop parody, meaning much more chaos, destruction and lulz-y shenanigans.They also take the subtle homoerotic undertones of dude flicks (Predator, Lethal Weapon, etc etc)  to amazing new heights. Like before, Hill and Tatum's bromance is the heart of the film but now it's like a legit same sex civil union and it's hilarious. Jonah Hill may be the certified comic relief but seriously, Channing Tatum steals every scene he's in. He doesn't have as many great "AP chemistry bitch" lines like in the original, but he's still a one man wrecking crew when it comes to lulz and physical comedy. He and Ice Cube deliver the biggest laughs in the film. One scene in particular between the two of them that I dare not spoil, had me and just about everyone else in the theater ROFL. For real.

So back to all the meta/self aware stuff. Yes, perhaps the best part about 22 Jump Street is how often it takes shots at itself. It's a dumb sequel making fun of other dumb sequels. Hill cracks jokes about Tatum's own failed action hero attempt with White House Down, Ice Cube repeatedly alludes to the film's budget, no one in the movie believes Hill and Tatum are college age students and hammers them with old man jokes, and seemingly everyone enjoys pointing out  that this Jump Street's plot is "just like last time." It's all so zany and self aware, they do everything short of breaking the 4th wall onscreen. I half expected Ferris Bueller to pop and start talking to the camera at one point. Sure, the recycled plot and over the top self awareness could be considered a sign of lazy writing, but it's executed oh so well, it's exceptional delivery makes up for it. In fact, keeping tabs on all the film's in-jokes is almost as entertaining as the movie itself. 22 Jump Street is not the most original film in existence [a sequel of a reboot/adaptation] but in a weird way, it is sort of reinventing the wheel.

Movie Review: 21 Jump Street

pleasantly surprised

I initially cringed at the idea of remaking 21 Jump Street. Growing up in the early 90's, I remember watching reruns on TV after my early morning cartoons had ended. I know it's cheesy as hell, but I loved that show and still know all the words to the theme song. Anyways, I was kind of pissed Hollywood was going to mess with my cherished childhood memories. Luckily, this movie isn't all that bad. In fact I laughed quite a bit.

Here are the two reasons I feel the new 21 Jump Street reboot works. Vile Nostalgia and Channing Tatum.

Here at Jim's Fear, I like to classify Vile Nostalgia as getting all misty eyed/longing for things that you previously hated or something that makes no sense at all. My previous post about Paula Abdul is a perfect example. Anyways, 21 Jump Street's big gag is that two police officers who graduated high school in 2005 are out of touch cave men when they head back to campus as undercover cops in 2012.

OMG! Nostaliga for Slim Shady = LULZ

This sounds pretty asinine when you think about it. Like that South Park episode ("Prehistoric Ice Man") with the dude from 1996 who gets frozen for three years and can't handle the cruel future world of....1999. Shit JUST happened man! Although this seems lame at first, once the two protagonists actually set foot in high school again you see just how funny and real it all is. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum's characters are relics from a pre-iPhone era. The high school students of today are more tech savvy, socially aware and intellectual than the neanderthals of the the 2000's. Obama's been their president since they were kids, they instant stream their music/porn and don't even bother downloading it. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when they're strolling the high school parking lot on their first day and fail at trying to identify all the familiar social cliques.

The other great thing about 21 Jump Street is Mr. (secret gay icon himself) Channing Tatum. Never thought I'd be praising this dude's acting chops but I gotta say, he had me laughing. Jonah Hill basically plays the same neurotic character he does in all his comedies but Tatum's timing and delivery of certain lines ("FUCK SCIENCE!") were flat out hilarious. The whole movie is insanely tongue in cheek. I'm talking flat out campy, complete with cameos from the original 21 Jump Street cast (Johhny Depp, Peter DeLuise, Holly Robinson Peete, and even a brief shout out to Dustin Nguygen) so it kind of amazed me that in a movie so wholeheartedly absurd as this, Channing Tatum's character was the only person I believed was real. Kudos man. "AP Chemistry Bitch."

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes goofy ass buddy pictures or people who suffer from Vile Nostalgia, even if it's for Y2K, like myself.

21 Jump Street

NO

I've been a busy lad these past two days playing MW3 (and a bad blogger I'll admit). It's been quite the thrill ride. Things were going oh so well. Then, then I learned about some terrible news...

There's a Hollywood remake of the 1980's TV show 21 Jump Street slated for a 2012 release. Worst of all, it star's Jonah Hill. WHY?! WHHHHYYYY?!

For those of you who don't remember, 21 Jump Street was a sweet ass TV show that ran from 1987-1991. It was about a bunch of young looking cops doing undercover work in local high schools, posing as students and busting all the teenage drug dealing/gun running/prostituting scum that was ruining G.H.W. Bush's America. Might sound lame now but man, it had the sickest theme song/intro ever!


SEE! Holly Robinson (Peete) sang that bad boy as well. Oh yeah..and Johnny Depp was on the show too. You know, biggest movie star on the planet.

Now the Hollywood crap factory is shitting out another turd/re-boot

Ok, I laughed like once of twice during that trailer. BUT STILL! I heard (read online) that the original cast are set to make cameos in this new film. If so, count me in, if only for the Vile Nostalgia factor.

Please Hollywood, stop raping my childhood...

...please!