The highly anticipated film adaptation of the TV show 21 Jump Street definitely lived up to my expectations, and is probably one of my favourite movies of the year. I haven't watched any of the TV show, so I can't give a good comparison but I can safely say it's going to be one of the best comedies of the year.
The film stars Jonah Hill (also the writer of the film) and Channing Tatum as the main characters Schmidt and Jenko. It begins by showing us Schmidt and Jenko in high school, Schmidt is the nerdy white guy known as Not So Slim Shady and Jenko is the school jock. The two meet again when they both join the police academy, joining forces so that Jenko can help Schmidt with the fitness side of things and Schmidt can help Jenko with the academic side. After graduating they expect a life of excitement and being badasses, but it's mostly riding police bikes through the park. After bungling an arrest of a well known drug lord they are sent to 21 Jump Street to join an undercover assignment which sees them heading back to highschool to find the source of a new drug taking over the schoolyard.
I honestly don't think that there was a period longer than a minute that I wasn't laughing, there are some hilarious one liners that literally left me with a sore side from laughing so hard. The film, like a few recent films made fun of its genre and the fact that it was a remake, similar to the way that Friends with Benefits makes fun of the romantic comedy genre, and I think that is what helps it be as funny and good as it is. There were plenty of hilarious car chases, and explosions that left you on the edge of your seat wanting more. It's definitely not a movie for kids though, with every second word being a swear word, and a lot of crude humour, two things which I usually hate in a movie, but it just seemed to work with this one!
Channing Tatum is proving himself as a great comedic actor, we saw little bits of it in She's the Man and The Vow etc., but this is definitely the best show of his comedic chops. Jonah Hill is hilarious as always, and this is the film he famously lost almost 20 kilos for. The duo work so well together and you can tell there's a bit of a bromance there. Dave Franco stars as the popular kid at the school who sells the drugs, and plays a character kind of similar to his Scrubs character, Cole. Ice Cube is also really hilarious as Captain Dickson, the man in charge of Jenko and Schmidt, "You are here because you some Justin Beaver, Miley Cyrus lookin' muthas."
I would gladly watch this movie again, and although other people might not agree with this, I'm going to have to give it a 5/5! If you haven't already, watch the trailer, and run to the cinema!
