[6.25/10] 21 Jump Street (2012)

21 Jump Street (2012)

Brief review: Loosely based on the '87 TV series of the same name, "21 Jump Street" is directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller's first live-action full-length feature after their animated flick, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". Those comedy buffs willing to see something different than cheesy rom-coms and Adam Sandler 'funny wannabes' will be pleased, because much like last year's naughty "Bad Teacher", this film is injected with huge does of crude humor and relies shamelessly on its raunchiness and dirty jokes. Is that a bad thing? No, not at all, because it works, and also adds a delicious vulgarity to the movie. The script is fresh, smart, and fueled with flip humor and hilarious satire on high school life, however, it doesn't have many laugh-out-loud funny moments, due to its lack of genuine wit. Being about worthless cops sent back to high school on a mission, "21 Jump Street" also has some action scenes in it, but none of them is particularly memorable, except for the ridiculous, yet funny chase scene in the beginning. Due to some lame editing, there's hardly any smooth cohesion between the different scenes, and as a result the direction feels sloppy and incompetent. Hill and Tatum are a pure joy to watch as a comedic duo, Ice Cube is hilarious as the 'stereotypical' black captain, plus, the unexpected cameos by Johnny Depp and Peter Deluise are utterly fantastic.

Overall summary: Clumsily-shot and hardly hysterically funny, yet enjoyable, raunchy and often amusing, "21 Jump Street" feels like a breath of fresh air into the tired comedy genre, and provides enough laughs and action to keep you entertained for 110 minutes.