'21 jump street is funny enough to make your
face hurt with laughter.'
It is not the first time that I have been suckered into
watching a movie that was recommended by a critic. And it won't be the last
either. If you'd take 'Super Bad' as the yardstick to measure all teenage
comedies, then 21 jump street would probably squeeze itself between American
Pie 4 and American Pie 5.
Super Bad had an equally super fat and super funny Jonah
Hill and 21 jump street has a half funny and a half-sized Jonah Hill (lost 40
pounds since then). The last time I have seen Channing Tatum, before watching
21 jump street, was in the forgettable G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. He makes
ballet dancing in Step Up look easier than his attempt at R-rated comedy.
21 jump street follows two buddy cops on their first
assignment, as they go undercover dressed as high school students, to bust a
drug supplier peddling hallucinogens at school. High school doesn't
particularly bring any happy memories for both as they missed their prom night.
Eight years after passing out of school, they think they
know everything they had to know about school but they are in for a surprise.
Apparently, punching the black-gay kid at school is not cool anymore nor is
driving a mustang that gives seven miles to the gallon. On a mission to
infiltrate the dealers and find the drug supplier, they would have to win over
the trust of a group of cool kids who drive cars that run on bio-fuel and are
in the school's drama team.
A mix of flat jokes, punctuated with a romance angle between
Jonah Hill and Brie Larson, which includes a scene where Jonah and Tatum try to
force vomit by sticking their fingers down each others throats sets the tempo
for the rest of the movie. It has more dick jokes than the number of F words in
'Goodfellas' and it tries so hard to make you laugh that it features Johnny
Depp in a cameo role with a tatoo on his dick.
Ice Cube starring as Captain DICKson, is probably the only
character in the movie who could make you LOL without trying too hard.
Sometimes, you'd wish for him to become 'XXX' again and shoot the two leads
ending the movie then and there. 21 jump street is like the 'scary movie'
version of all the buddy cop films that Hollywood has been rehashing since the
beginning of time. It's strictly for those who don't have date on a prom night.
Rating: 2/5
