21 Jump Street:
Three years prior to 21 Jump Street, directors Phil Lord and
Chris Miller were best known only for TV credits and 2009’s Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs, but it wasn’t until this film that the directors truly
broke out and made a name for themselves. Taking the TV series and turning it into a vehicle for stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, by all accounts, this movie should
have failed and fell flat on its face, but instead, rose above its vices to
become one of the funniest films of 2012.
In its defense, the film knows that this is a terrible idea,
and has a very Meta sense of humor to pick apart its general tropes. The film
makes direct commentary on the laziness of studios that undermine old source
material from a lack of creativity, and runs through age old customs, but has a
good enough sense of humor to subvert and poke fun at them in the meantime. The
writing for this film is so quick and deadpan that it’s hard to find a boring
moment, and it’s much to Lord and Miller’s creativity.
But by far the most entertaining aspect is the inspired team
up of leads Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. By all accounts, this is a lineup
that also shouldn’t have worked, but between the two of them, an effortless and
energetic, bromantic chemistry as perfect as Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in
Dumb and Dumber creates electrifying sparks. Hill is excellent playing up
classic nerdy stereotypes as Schmidt, while also poking fun at his usual
comedic and raunchy persona. Then you have Channing Tatum, utterly flawless as athletic
and unrestrained Jenko, whose quick one-liners and detailed quirks result in
the film’s biggest laughs. Separately they’re great, but it’s when they team up
that the film is at its best, not afraid to mock themselves, and in a
particular arc when Schmidt goes from outsider nerd to cool kid, and Jenko
vice-versa, the film also has a lot of heart. Of the supporting cast, the most
scene stealing one is Ice Cube as their hot-headed police captain, and creates
just as much intimidation as he does comedy.
Breaking it down, it’s a film that had no right to be as
good as it was, but proved that with the right people behind it, it can be
pulled off.
**** / *****
22 Jump Street:
It would be a two year wait before we would see Schmidt and
Jenko in action again, and just four months earlier, Phil Lord and Chris Miller
would come right off the success of their animated smash hit, The Lego Movie.
Clearly they were the comedic stars of the year, but if anyone had assumed the
first film were destined to fail, than this sequel probably seemed like it was
bound to finally do so. The film once again acknowledges just how stupid this
idea is, stating that doing something the second time (and with an increased
budget) is never as good as what came before it. In an ironic twist, however, I
feel that this film has managed to do just that.
Whereas 21 Jump Street was a mockery of studios running out
of any original ideas for films and resorting to previously published material,
22 Jump Street is an even bigger mockery of the growing sequel market, and the
contentedness of rehashing plot points from predecessors while doing nothing
different than throwing more action and jokes with very little breathing room. The
film largely does follow the same beats and structure points as the first, but
still hilariously pokes holes in these customs with a refreshing self-awareness.
What I ultimately came to realize is that, rather than suffer from the laziness
of these clichés, it instead chooses to unabashedly wear them like a badge, and
take full advantage of the comedic potential that lie within them. Though
similar to the script of the first film (even clocking in at an almost
identical running time), the film isn’t exact, and often successfully manages
to pull the rug out from underneath viewers who assume to have figured
everything out, and deliver genuinely unexpected hilarity. The film also works
in some fun in-jokes in regards to its cast, such as sly nods like a reference
to Channing Tatum’s 2013 flop White House Down.
As was the case in the first film, the real highlight is the
pairing of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, and with this film, they’re awarded
better chemistry than even the first movie offered. Clearly having established
a strong friendship from the making of the first film, the two brilliantly continue
to play up their bromance, even going so far as to liken them to a bored couple
who’ve lost their passion for one another, and switches up their dynamic so
that now Jenko becomes cool kid on campus, and Schmidt becomes the outsider.
The two of them seem to want space from one another, but come to realize that
it’s when they support each other that they’re to the best of their abilities,
and so too does the film Their
mismatching is just as witty and energized as ever, and leads to both the most
touching and hysterical moments of the film. Also making a return is Ice Cube,
given a more expanded role than in the first film, and is just as ferociously
intense and funny as ever, especially after a riotous twist in the story.
This film has come closer than any other at dethroning The
Lego Movie as the funniest movie of the year, and thanks to the stellar
chemistry between its leads, is bound to become a comedy classic in its own
right.
****1/2 / *****
And there you have it, my take on both 21 and 22 Jump
Street. Again, both films were better than they had any right to be, almost
destined to flop, but took those questionable ideas to their benefit to make two of the most unashamedly
familiar, yet unique comedies in years.
Will 23 Jump Street be able to say the same? Well, we’ll
just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.
Until then, "F--- you, Science!"
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