21 Jump St. -REVIEW **1/2

I watched 21 Jump St. last night and immediately thought of re-naming it in some punned-out fashion. Ok, let’s go with 21 Chump St. for simplicity’s sake. It would sound appropriate. I’d assume people would agree. Channing Tatum is not very funny (I don’t even think he’s that good looking, though in one upside down shot, I had difficulty distinguishing his visage from that of Johnny Depp). On the other hand I think Jonah Hill is a try-too-hard with mixed results. His character’s most common go-to moves were a bombardment of contrived slap-stick moments, as well as moments of forced awkwardness that were hit/miss to be kind. That’s a bit of an outburst, especially considering that the film itself has done fairly well in the box office as well as received some decent reviews.

I am not very familiar with the original 21 Jump St. series, and I will admit that I still feel the same way, my internet browser cautiously teetering on the edge of imdb in order to round out my opinion a little. The new movie, despite picking up on the old “undercover cops in high school” theme of the original, is different in that it is completely insane! The pervasive drug imagery in the film is interesting (the main culprit drug in the film is referred to as H.F.S. and it comes in little zip-loc bags with a logo of dog poo that is sporting a halo). Thought-provoking, I think? The film mainly operates from expanding on a wide array of known stereotypes (all sorts of ‘em), so that they become EVEN MORE stereotypical and then from there ironically funny I suppose? But I am no undercover detective. That is but a guess.

So all of this said, 21 Jump St. did keep my interest. I watched it with some pals, and the theatre was packed and laughing frequently. The laugh-camps were oftentimes split, with some people laughing more at the gross-out or vulgar stuff. I found myself laughing mostly at the reckless ineptitude of the two protagonists (which I admit, they pulled off quite well at times). Some things were gross and not especially laugh-worthy. Like a guy getting his dick shot off provided me with more squeamishness than laughter. I know it’s a comedy but that kind of humour just isn’t my bag of breakfast sausages. Ice Cube's appearance is welcome, but I don't think he made as many waves as P. Diddy in Get Him To The Greek. Out of 4 stars- Heck.. 2 and ½ maybe. (Watchable with friends.)