21 Jump Street

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

by Frederick William Springer III

 

21 JUMP STREET

Release Date:  16 March 2012                                                                                      Runtime:  109 Minutes              

Review Date:  24 June 2012                                                                                          Rating:  2 (of 6)

 

     I never saw the original, but I'm sure 21 Jump Street does it a gross disservice.  I don't have much else to say.  I may have chuckled twice and cracked a smile half as many times. 

     There is nothing likable about the two main characters.  They joke twice that Canning Tatum looks too old to be in high school, once saying he looked in his 20s, another time in his 40s.  Really?  Of the two, Tatum's the one who looks most passable.  Nothing is ever said of Jonah Hill's character, yet he is the one that looks 40.

     I know the characters are supposed to be incompetent but receiving text messages under their real names ("Schmidt" instead of "Doug") when they're supposed to be undercover seems even more amateur--which does go with their characters but also should lead to them getting caught early on.

     **SPOILER:  What doesn't ring true--DEA agents under deep cover for 5 years losing their lives while chastising this group rather than completing the task at hand, knowing full well guns are trained on them.

     The drug they're trying to get off the streets, H.F.S, has an appropriate logo to sum up the film--a heaping pile of shit.  It's apropos that they speak of recycling 80s programming because there are no original/creative ideas.  The joke is on them, though, since this was just such garbage.