21 Jump Street

Rated R

Running time: 1 hr 50 mins

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and an over-the-top performance by Ice Cube

The movie also stars Dave Franco, yes he is James Franco’s little brother and the familial resemblance is uncanny. This movie was an absolute riot, one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in awhile. And it was definitely the funniest movie so far this year; of course this is made easier since we’re only 2 ½ months into the year. There are a lot of lines and scenes in this movie intended as inside jokes for those of us who were fans of the TV series. However, the movie is funny even if you’ve never seen an episode of 21 Jump Street, at least I think it is. I guess I can’t just make a blanket statement like that since I’ve seen every episode of the TV show and own most of them on DVD.

The script, which was co-written by Jonah Hill, makes fun of itself and takes nothing very serious; which I believe is what will make this movie successful. I’m afraid that most people won’t give this movie a chance, thinking to themselves “here goes another Hollywood remake of a TV show, why can’t writers come up with something new?” Let me say that the exact sentiment is addressed a few minutes into the movie by Deputy Chief Hardy. And that is just one of the funny moments in this movie. The entire audience started laughing when the movie started and most were still chuckling as they were leaving the theater. This a no-brain kind of comedy, leave your thinking cap at the door and just enjoy yourself.

Johnny Depp, Peter DeLuise and Holly Robinson all make cameo appearances as their original characters from the show. I’m not going to explain how or in what circumstances because it would give away too much of the movie. Channing Tatum actually surprised me by his comic timing in the movie. I thought he was going to play the “straight” man to Jonah Hill. That is not the case and he did a heck of a job with his character.

Go see this movie, if you’re not laughing out loud on a regular basis by the time it’s 30 minutes in, go ask for your money back because you won’t like the rest of it either.