21 Jump Street Review
“Let’s be cops!” –Me and my friends, every time we reference this movie.
I had no particular warm feelings about Jonah Hill or Channing Tatum when this movie first came out. Jonah Hill was in Superbad, which just wasn’t my thing, and Channing Tatum was… GI Joe? That came out before this somehow, right? And he was in dance movies? I don’t know, the timeline on Channing Tatum is baffling to me.
Some friends and I picked up this movie with very low expectations to watch at my parents house on a trip back from college… and I couldn’t believe the amount of fun we had.
The movie’s a self-aware reboot of a 1980’s show about cops going undercover as high school students to stop crime. Jonah Hill’s character, Schmidt, was a loser in high school. Channing Tatum, Jenko, was popular but troubled. Then, as really bad cops, they go straight back to school… and immediately forget their secret identities. In the best decision of the film, nerdy Schmidt ends up pretending to be a popular athlete while loveable but dense Jenko gets pushed into AP classes. Everything after that point must be seen to be believed.
The other surprisingly great choice the film makes was ditching the easy and obvious depiction of high schools as kingdoms run by jocks and cheerleaders in which the rest of the student body just lives. I remember being delighted to see that the popular kids in 21 Jump Street looked a lot like the popular kids at my high school: bright, driven, pretty funny… and incredibly privileged, though the best of them seem aware of the fact. Slamming a nerd’s books out of his hands doesn’t get a cheer in this film. Jenko trying to call a kid “gay” to be insulting backfires when it turns out the guy really is gay… and the school turns on him for coming across like a homophobic asshat.
The writing is clever and self-aware, Hill and Channing shine in their roles, and their roles within roles as actors playing cops poorly playing teenagers. And by now you probably know I’m a sucker for a good best friend story, and this one has it in spades: Jenko and Schmidt’s bromance is the stuff of legends.
Add in a pretty star-studded cast (Ice Cube, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, and Rob Riggle, Ellie Kemper, and Nick Offerman) and a pretty solid budget, and you’re left with a very fun ride through a high school drug ring. Be warned though, this one is rated R for a reason. If vulgar comedy isn’t for you, this is probably one to pass on. Otherwise, though, 4 Miranda Rights out of 5. Good stuff.