21 Jump Street is Stupidly Hilarious!

21 Jump Street (3 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy withe a Chance of Meatballs)

Written by Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)

Starring Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube

After a long week of writing about the Academy Awards and some pretty great films I decided I would write my review for this film which I saw last Thursday night.  I do not remember watching the television show which last for about 5 seasons and Johnny Depp, and Holly Robinson Peete.  I honestly think I was too young, and this was not a show my parents watched.

The premise of the film is similar to the premise of the show.  The film centers around two guys Jenko (Tatum) the high school jock and popular guy and Schmidt an Eminem wannabe loser in high school.  The two graduate and leave their high school labels behind as they eventually join the police academy.  While at the police academy they start to utilize each other's strengths and become best friends.  As they start their lives as cops they think things will be like television, but as they are riding bikes patrolling the park they soon realize this is not the case.  When they attempt to catch some drug dealers in the park things go wrong and they are assigned to work in an undercover squad, on you guessed it, 21 Jump Street.  The two are sent back to high school when they realize that high schoolers are different and they have to learn a whole new way of being.

The movie is pretty hilarious, and self aware of how stupid it actually is.  They make fun of the cliches that exist within television shows and films that center around the same type of shows and films.  My favorite running gag is when Hill and Tatum keep waiting for things to explode because they should, and the explosions fail.  Hill and Tatum have good chemistry, they complement each other well, and are both pretty funny.  This is not one of my favorite Hill comedic go arounds, but that is more based on the character.  While Tatum is not a good actor he has proved in this film and his latest job hosting Saturday Night Live that he does not take himself too seriously and is going to milk the work while he still has the body to do so.  

None of these things can hide the fact that the movie is not that great, but be prepared to just sit back and laugh at the stupid humor, and some great cameos by the original cast members from the television show.