Review of 21 Jump Street (2012) by Ben L — 15 Jun 2014

I'm not a big fan of modern comedies. It always seems like they lack any subtlety and have completely lost the art of innuendo, so everything is just crass and over-the-top. Yet I had heard lots of praise heaped on 21 Jump Street as one of the best in years, and I also saw some funny advertisements for 22 Jump Street, so I thought I should give the first movie a chance. (Note: I never saw any of the original TV series.) All I can say is, if this is the best that modern comedies have to offer, then I think I'll just continue to avoid them. It's not that I hated the movie, in fact I'll talk about a number of moments I enjoyed shortly, but it was not even close to matching the humor of classic comedies. As expected they overloaded this movie with foul language, lots of blatant sex jokes, and fun with drugs and alcohol. I know I come off as a prude, but I just think there's more creative writing involved in subtly hinting at things rather than just coming right out and showing them.

Jonah Hill is indeed funny. He has good comedic timing, and does a good job of bringing humor to the stereotypical role of the nerdy, out-of-shape kid. With someone else in the role I could see this character being the straight man, but he gets in a good amount of comedy. Channing Tatum is surprisingly tolerable in this movie. While I still don't think he can act, it seems this film lets him be himself so perhaps he's a bit more at ease. There are still moments where I think "this could have been funnier with a real actor in that role" but they were surprisingly few and far between. Ice Cube gets to be your stereotypically loud, screaming police captain with a foul mouth. It's a fitting role for him and requires no range at all, so I can't complain one bit about his performance. I'm still trying to figure out who thought Dave Franco was a good casting decision for the cool kid in school. He is amazingly unlikable, and I kind of wanted to punch him in the face myself the entire time I was watching. Not the type of person I could see Jonah Hill's character looking up to at all. Brie Larson is the lead actress, and she doesn't get much of a part. In fact she is simply the stereotypical female in this style of movie who is merely used as a tool to keep the plot moving. Need the protagonist to confide in someone, she's there for you. Need a hostage for the bad guys, she's your girl. Need someone to kiss the hero at the end, she's on the job.

What I really liked about 21 Jump Street was the fact that it pulled no punches about being cliche-filled. It came right out and made fun of the fact that it was just another stupid remake. Likewise when it hit certain scenes you expect from a typical buddy cop film it would mess with your expectations. Gas leaking out of a truck? Guess what, it's not going to blow up in this movie! Finally, I liked how they showed the difference between high school life in our generation, and modern high school life. All of these humorous touches were funnier than anything I anticipated going into this film. It's like the writers are winking at the audience saying "we know you know what's coming, and we're OK with that." There are a few other scenes where the comedy of what is happening had me rolling in laughter, like when the lead characters take some drugs themselves. So 21 Jump Street had its moments, and I'm not upset that I saw it. That being said, I did not rush out the next day to see the sequel, because I still feel like there's not enough that sets this apart from all the other R-rated comedies out there. I can certainly see some of what people like in this movie, but it's just not quite aligned with my tastes.