21 Jump Street - #6 of 2012

I am a little torn. 

I really enjoyed 21 Jump Street, however, I’m not sure if my mood and environment at the time of the screening directly influenced my opinion.  There I was… rocking business class on an overnight flight from Washington, DC to Frankfurt, Germany... it was my second flight of the day, the seat was incredibly comfortable, the three course meal delectable, the Malbec delicious, and my personal LCD screen was triple the size of what I normally get in economy.  In short… I was in a very good mood.

So, to keep my mood soaring, I opted to watch a ridiculous comedy during my dinner:  21 Jump Street.

Perhaps it was my mood… my environment… or perhaps it was the fact that I went into this film with zero expectations… however I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you remember the original 21 Jump Street television series.  That said, you don’t have to be familiar with the show; however, you’ll appreciate the movie even more if you are… especially when Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise make their cameo… which was fantastically brilliant.

Ultimately, I found 21 Jump Street very fresh and oddly original, even for being a remake… and they hooked me in the first 10 minutes when Hill and Tatum get transferred and their Chief says, “We're reviving a canceled undercover project from the '80s and revamping it for modern times. The people behind this lack creativity and they've run out of ideas, so what they do now is just recycle shit from the past and hope that nobody will notice.”

I predict that Jonah Hill is going to be a household name for a very long time.   Not only did Jonah act in 21 Jump Street, he also wrote and produced the picture as well.  And when a comedy makes money while also getting good reviews (85% freshness from Rotten Tomatoes), the man behind the curtain (Jonah) is going to find his stock rising.  In addition, with an Oscar nomination under his belt, for Moneyball, Jonah is now being tapped to work with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, as well as maintaining a heavy schedule of comedies, which is totally he wheel house.  Jonah’s versatility could make him the next Robin Williams.

I also have to give props to Channing Tatum.  For the most part I’ve always seen Tatum as just another pretty boy pretending to be an action star and romantic leading man… however… my opinion of him started to change a bit after seeing The Vow.  I’ve also heard good things about Haywire, however I haven’t seen it yet.  But as for 21 Jump Street, this pretty boy ‘heartthrob’ has some serious comedy chops.  Tatum was hilarious.  Almost more so than Hill.  I was really surprised.  I was really expecting Tatum to be Hill’s straight man, trying to keep up, however I would completely wrong.  There was no straight man in this film.  Hill and Tatum were a perfectly balanced team.

All and all, it was a very fun comedy and I would totally watch it again.