21 Jump Street

This movie... I went into it thinking it would be like every other buddy cop movie I've ever see. And it was. But that's the beauty of it. It fully leans into the fact that comedy buddy cop movies have become something of a trope. It IS tropey and somehow subverts those tropes at the same time. It's profane and violent but I had a GREAT time watching it. Sometimes, all you need is a little slapstick comedy and an in-your-face, half-assed message.

Delightful. I, for one, loved it and all the characters in a dear-god-what're-you-doing sorta way.

Many of the jokes are pushed too far and the plot just gets way too silly in places, but the strong comedic skills of Channing Tatum and particularly Jonah Hill help make this a fairly enjoyable experience.

I too expected this to stink. Another buddy cop movie, starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, based on a lousy 80's television show - doesn't sound all that appealing.

Hill's "The Sitter", completely mediocre, and it's been quite a while since Superbads success.

Channing Tatum showed his comedic timing during his appearance on SNL. I was still hesitant.

But, I stand corrected.

This is the funniest movie since last years' Bridesmaids.

The key here is the fantastic script. The story isn't rocket-science, and we knew it wouldn't be, but the comedic timing of the leads is spot-on, and they were given a great script to work with.

I found myself laughing multiple times throughout. My spouse concurred. One late, unnecessary gross-out moment brought it down a notch. The film hadn't used any of those gimmicks and didn't need to in the end. It just seemed a bit out of place and distasteful.

The leads did a great job here. Their characters worked exactly how they should in a buddy-cop flick like this. They bounced off each other for an hour and a half, and the result will surely be one of the best comedies of the year, and an outside shot for my 2012 top-25(back-end)if it can hold-on.

Watch out for a sneaky cameo(spoiled by the cast list if you look).

Nice surprise.

Deserves it's ranking here.

Stuck between 7-8, but going with 76/100, so I'm rounding to 8.

You'll enjoy this if you liked:The Other Guys, Starsky and Hutch, If Looks Could Kill, or Blue Streak - even though I think this is actually a clear notch above all of those films.

21 Jump Street was a late 1980s/early 90s action based cop show featuring Johnny Depp. A department of youthful looking cops who can mingle amongst young people.

The film version goes for laughs with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill playing mismatched buddies who get recruited by the newly constituted Jump Street because of their youthful looks and go undercover in High School to break a synthetic drugs gang.

On paper the film does not sound much, an old forgotten TV series being revived, starring two actors who outside of the USA would not cause much of a stir, Tatum being widely regarded as Mr Wooden.

However the synthetic drug must have been put in these guys coffee as both Hill and Tatum give terrific performances.

Tatum shows a talent for light comedy and has signs of a personality which have up to now remained hidden.

The script is consistently funny and makes you laugh, the direction is very much spot on. The film does not outstay its welcome and even better, they bag star cameos from an original 21 Jump Street member or two.

Precursor: I just moved back into town two days ago and had made plans to see one of my old friends tonight. I did not want to see this movie, and wouldn't have under any other circumstances but my friend really wanted to and the tickets were free so I went.

Review itself: This is of no disrespect to Jonah Hill, his fashion of humor or his fans at all, but I, personally have grown tired of what seems to now be a plethora of wanna be Hangover and Superbad's. (The success of Project X seriously worries me...). Anyways, having that mind set approaching tonight and considering the fact I didn't laugh once during the 21 JS trailer, green or red band... I really wasn't expecting all that much out of the experience aside from leaving the house and catching up with a buddy.

But damn.

I honestly thought this movie was great. Yes, there were parts I wasn't fond of... a bit of the dialogue seemed to me to be vulgar strictly for the sake of being vulgar... there was the usual expected Jonah Hill trademarked myriad of penis jokes and one extremely unnecessary shock gag but the majority of the movie was, to me, surprisingly satirical/smart/relevant in today's society, self-aware, and situationally hilarious. Even the dumbest and most profane of this movie's jokes and clichés seemed to know that they were such and were given the proper comedic build up/context to at least warrant a chuckle. This movie had some surprisingly clever dialogue throughout and some of the best supporting characters I've seen in recent comedies (Ice Cube, The Principal, etc..) What really stood out to me though was the editing. 21 Jump Street features some of the most awkwardly humorous camera shot transitions, scene changes and music integration. Despite it's faults, I found this to be a damn hard movie to hate, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun weekend movie.

All in all... genuine, clever, vulgar yet respectable comedy with some heart.

IMO a very good career move for both Hill and Tatum.

Stoked for the sequel.