21 Jump Street

Yes, it’s another remake of a TV series. We’ve had Charlie’s Angels, Starsky & Hutch, The Dukes of Hazzard, Bewitched and Mission: Impossible, to name a few.

And now, thanks to Jonah Hill who thought of the idea to remake this ’80s iconic program, one can only ask, will it be any good? After seeing the trailer, I say no.

It’s 2005 and Jonah Hill plays Schmidt, the token nerd at high school who was picked on by, you guessed it, the token bully. In this instance, it’s Jenko, played by Channing Tatum. We know the dynamics here as we’ve seen them many times before.

Skip forward seven years and the lads find themselves enrolling in police academy.

Keep up people, because the first half moves very fast.

After graduating, they become bicycle cops and score their first bust. Congrats right? Wrong, the one thing they forgot to do was read the suspects their rights. As a result, they are demoted to a rehashed program in which they must report to an angry sergeant (Ice Cube).

Where is this program you might ask? That’s right, on 21 Jump Street.

Schmidt and Jenko have to go undercover at a high school to find out who is supplying a new drug hitting the playgrounds. Not only do they have to deal with going back to post-adolescence but they also deal with a new high school mentality in which tolerance is hugely respected.

Hill conceived the idea for the story and was an executive producer as was Tatum. There are laughs aplenty and a lot of penis jokes and of course your good dose of typical comic humour.

But when that seems to be a bit too much, one can always rely on a good car chase (or two) to help move the plot along.

Sure, it’s just another American tripe film with an unoriginal plot and it won’t garner any major awards, but so what? Hill and Tatum kick ass either way.

I think teenagers are going to like this film a lot as they will understand it even though they weren’t born when the original 21 Jump Street aired in the late ’80s. The action is OK and the acting, well Hill, is brilliant.

Overall, the film is ridiculous but it’s ridiculously fun. Therefore, I give it 2.5 out of 5.

INFO: Kylan Luke-McKeen is the presenter and film reviewer for Kiss My Arts on JOY94.9 (Mondays 9-10pm). You can view his work and other film reviews at www.kylanmckeen.com

109 mins
MA rating
Director: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing
Story: Jonah Hill and Michael Bacall
Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Brie Larson