It’s not what you think it is; another stale remake of a staple 80’s hit show.  It’s so much more and so much better, I was shocked.  ‘Jump Street’ manages to reboot the TV show successfully by mocking the genre it’s trying to recreate.  I was intrigued pre-screening by Jonah Hill’s writing credit and he and Channing Tatum’s spin as Producers of the film – you can see where their influences came in, and it was worth their time and money.  This film is a complete win for the cinema faring crowd.  A+

21 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill (Superbad…that’s right, not Moneyball.  I refuse to re-endorse that piece of crap), and 6 foot boy child Channing Tatum (GI Joe) as rookie cops Schmidt & Jenko who are sent to work for the underground Jump Street detective wing that places baby-faced cops into undercover assignments aimed at teens.   There’s a new designer drug on the street that’s hooking and killing kids and the two are sent back to high school to infiltrate and bust the operation.   Just out of High School and the CAPD police training program, the two get to return to their old haunts except this time in different roles.  In high school Schmidt was a dumpy low confidence loser who couldn’t talk to girl, this time around he’s the popular guy just by being himself (talk about a change of the times).  For Venko, who came out of high school as a top jock that got all the chicks and had massive confidence, it’s a complete spin as he becomes the science nerd reject in order to infiltrate.  Each discovers the benefits and pitfalls of the other side of their HS lives while bumbling through an investigation to bust a top drug dealer.

 

Now, I was no fan of the 80’s show, I can barely recall an episode, but I do remember the cast and the premise, so it was easy to expect nothing out of this 2012 reboot.  Remakes always try too hard and miss the mark of the original, so maybe its good I was not a hard core fan – the comedy alone in the film may have turned me off.

 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some stellar support casting.  You might think its cliché for Ice Cube to play the tough talking Captain of the unit, but he pulls it off smoothly and it added just as much from a comedy end as it did for believability with his spin as a senior officer in a teen unit.  Rob Riggle (Killers) the comedian is his deadpan funny self with great comedic timing as always.

 

Go see it for a great date night out, go see it for some great laughs (courtesy of its R rating; mostly for potty mouth humor).   The montages, the segue to their jobs on Jump Street, and let’s not forget Korean Jesus.  You will have a great time at this one.  If it weren’t for the R rating, I’d guarantee this film to take #1 for the weekend, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it nabbed it all the same.  Audiences are going to like this one.

 

21 Jump Street is Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence.  Running Time, 1 hour 49 minutes