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21 Jump Street – review

N ot so much a stoner movie, perhaps more the result of film producers getting stoned, and talking about old stuff they can't get out of their heads. This is the feature-length revival of 21 Jump Street , the late-80s TV cop show that featured a heart-stoppingly beautiful Johnny Depp in his breakout role. It had the unimprovable premise of cops chosen for their youthful looks to go undercover and crack down on youth crime. This now becomes a defiantly immature action-comedy starring Channing Tatum and a slimline Jonah Hill as Jenko and Schmidt, two appalling police officers who must get down with the kids.

Worst enemies in school, they are now cop partners faced with the humiliation of going back to high school as faux-teens to bust a drug ring. It's not too much of a stretch. Being adult is the real imposture. But it is here that the former jock and nerd find that in this environmentally sensitive Obama age, their school status levels have become very different. Jenko bitterly blames it all on Glee.

It's a funny twist on teen movies and buddy comedies, creating a postmodern Police Academy, and there's a gloriously pointless freeway chase that reaches further back to the world of Smokey and the Bandit. Maybe the Brit patriot in me also detects the influence of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost – but imagining Frost losing as much weight as Hill is too scary.

In its outrageous way, 21 Jump Street has real laughs. Jenko has to move in with Schmidt at his mum and dad's and experience the full horror of the kiddie photos on the wall. ("It's like I've been murdered and this is a shrine to me," Schmidt whines.)

In high school, they realise that all the macho values that once held sway are obsolete, and to Jenko's considerable chagrin, it is shy, plump Schmidt who is now Mr Popular. Being adolescent is more a question of style than either anticipated; it's all about maintaining a front. As our two heroes are told by their captain: "Teenage the fuck up!" Perhaps that last word should be "down". But it's funny.

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21 jump street, common sense media reviewers.

TV-based buddy comedy is crude but hilarious.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

21 Jump Street's main message is that friendsh

The two lead characters are sometimes inept and in

Lots of it, but generally played cartoonishly (and

Three people are shown in a state of undress while

Very frequent use of strong language, including &q

It's a teen movie, so the products that teens

The plot centers around the arrest of a drug ring

Parents need to know that 21 Jump Street is an often crude (but irreverently funny) action/buddy comedy based on the popular '80s TV series that launched Johnny Depp's career. This version stars popular actors Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as bumbling cops who attempt to redeem themselves by going…

Positive Messages

21 Jump Street 's main message is that friendship trumps high school stereotypes and popularity contests -- as long as you keep an eye on what's important (relationships) and what's not (your position in an imposed hierarchy).

Positive Role Models

The two lead characters are sometimes inept and inane and not always supportive of each other, but in the end they realize the error of their ways.

Violence & Scariness

Lots of it, but generally played cartoonishly (and lots of slow-motion scenes). A character rejoices when his friend shoots someone (it's a gross-out moment); guns are drawn and pointed at someone's head. Though most of the fight scenes are cartoonish in nature, blood is shed. And cops rejoice after arresting and shooting people.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Three people are shown in a state of undress while in the middle of a sex act (though there's no graphic nudity); in an end-credits scenes, two couples are seen together. Also lots of crude language and sex talk, including discussion of teens hooking up and/or wanting to. Some kissing and sexual gestures; genitalia are drawn on family photographs and also can be glimpsed briefly in a non-sexual context.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Very frequent use of strong language, including "f--k," "s--t," "ass," "bitch," "p---y," "prick," "d--k," "damn," "hell," "goddamn," and "oh my God" (as an exclamation).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

It's a teen movie, so the products that teens use -- laptops, phones, etc. -- are on display. But there's not a lot of label-dropping.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The plot centers around the arrest of a drug ring that deals in a high school; they've created a synthetic drug whose effects have been chronicled on a website. The video has gone viral, and the 21 Jump Street agents have to stop the drug from spreading, too. There's also pot-smoking and some underage drinking at parties.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that 21 Jump Street is an often crude (but irreverently funny) action/buddy comedy based on the popular '80s TV series that launched Johnny Depp 's career. This version stars popular actors Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as bumbling cops who attempt to redeem themselves by going undercover to bust a high school drug ring. The storyline leads to plenty of drug content (there's also pot smoking and some underage drinking), and you can also expect lots of strong language (including "f--k," "s--t," and more), crude references, and sexual innuendoes. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (50)
• Kids say (151)

Based on 50 parent reviews

Spoiler Alert! Still please read.

Hilarious-but not for kids, what's the story.

Schmidt ( Jonah Hill ) and Jenko ( Channing Tatum ) weren't friends in high school. Schmidt was sensitive and smart and not particularly sporty; Jenko was the opposite. But the police academy they both attended is the great equalizer, and they each learn from the other's strengths ... even though they're not particularly good at their jobs (Jenko can't even remember the Miranda rights). So off to 21 Jump Street they go to prove they have what it takes by busting a major drug ring. The job entails pretending to be in high school again, and Schmidt's worried that he'll be uncool once again -- and, worse, forgotten. But the world has changed a whole lot, and so have the "cool kids." Turns out that the ones who used to be on the sidelines are ruling high school in more ways than one.

Is It Any Good?

T his is how you remake a franchise. Rather than borrowing heavily from its '80s TV predecessor or mining the same, now-tired jokes as some other movies descended from previously known projects, 21 JUMP STREET is solidly in the present, even as it flashes back to the past. Its material is modern, its jokes whip-smart, and, as a result, it's a delight (as long as you're "mature" enough to handle the crude stuff, of course).

21 Jump Street 's wit comes from the way that it pokes fun at high school and how its sociological makeup -- who's popular, who's not, what are kids these days up to? -- has changed over the years. The film actually twists some stereotypes on their heads. (The troubled kids are actually environmentalists and academically serious.) The drug plot is almost incidental, but not so incidental that it's a wash. It still propels the film forward and provides a great backdrop for the central theme to unfold: the friendship shared by the two leads. And Hill and Tatum have great chemistry, a main requirement of buddy cop movies. Both are in fine form. Who else is in fine form? Johnny Depp , who graciously makes a cameo that's hilarious and cheeky and satisfying. See this movie, stat.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how 21 Jump Street portrays high school. Is it realistic? Is it meant to be? Teens: How does this school compare to yours?

Parents, talk to your kids about social struggles and drug use in high school. Does this film depict either/both accurately? What are the consequences of substance use/abuse in real life?

How does the movie compare to the original 21 Jump Street TV show? If you were a fan of the series, is the movie what you expected?

Movie Details

• In theaters : March 16, 2012
• On DVD or streaming : June 26, 2012
• Cast : Brie Larson , Channing Tatum , Jonah Hill
• Directors : Chris Miller , Phil Lord
• Inclusion Information : Latino directors, Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Pictures
• Genre : Comedy
• Topics : Friendship , High School
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence
• Last updated : February 10, 2024

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21 jump street: film review.

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's comedy co-stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as a pair of cops who go undercover at a high school to bust a drug ring.

By THR Staff

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21 Jump Street Channing Tatum Jonah Hill Film Still - H 2011

Under normal circumstances, the prospect of an ’80s TV crime drama reworked as an R-rated action-comedy helmed by the co-directors of a family-friendly animated movie wouldn’t lend itself to high expectations. The fact that the show is legendary for launching Johnny Depp ‘s career only raised the stakes.

But any preconceived notions are decisively and refreshingly dashed where the feature reboot of 21 Jump Street in concerned.

The Bottom Line Surprise! This is one ’80s reboot that justifies its existence with a fresh, consistently funny payoff.

Not since Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg teamed up in The Other Guys has an onscreen pairing proved as comically rewarding as the inspired partnership of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as baby-faced cops who go undercover at a high school to bust a drug ring.

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The laugh-out-loud upshot — based on a story by Hill and screenwriter Michael Bacall and energetically directed by the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs duo of Phil Lord & Christopher Miller — should nab big numbers for Sony.

Although it doesn’t open until March 16, the picture is looking to jump-start word-of-mouth with a March 12 sneak preview at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin.

Setting the promising tone is a prologue taking place back in high school circa 2005, with Hill’s nerdy Schmidt taking fashion cues from Eminem (with not-so-Slim Shady results) and Tatum’s cool but clueless Jenko establishing an early adversarial relationship.

Cut to the present, with both graduating from the police academy and, after a botched first arrest, being reassigned to the long-dormant Jump Street unit overseen by the intimidating Captain Dickson ( Ice Cube , specializing in hilarious, expletive-laden slow burns).

PHOTOS: Hollywood’s A-List Redefined

Posing as siblings (!) attending the same high school, the two undercover cops struggle to convincingly fit in with the student body despite the readily apparent physical maturity issues, especially where Tatum’s muscular Jenko is concerned.

While on-a-roll Oscar-nominee Hill is in fine form, both comedic and otherwise — this is the role that prompted him to kick-start that significant weight loss — it’s Tatum, an introspective actor not thought of as an exuberant funnyman, who rises to the occasion with a loose, mischievous performance that amusingly plays off of Hill’s more earnest introvert.

Brie Larson holds her own as a theater geek with trust issues, and Dave Franco (James’ younger brother) does well as the school’s gregarious drug dealer.

And without blowing his cover, let’s just say that Officer Tom Hanson himself (Depp) manages to maintain a crowd-tickling element of surprise with his previously confirmed cameo.

Co-directors Lord and Miller keep the comic pace humming along agreeably with the same sort of animated energy they provided for those raining meatballs.

Ironically, it’s during the requisite action sequences that the film loses momentum, but even the de rigueur car chases and explosions are given a welcome comic tweak by the directors, Bacall’s casually irreverent script and Mark Mothersbaugh ’s playful musical cues. 

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'21 Jump Street': One Remake That Isn't A Crime

Andrew Lapin

Rookie cops Jenko (Channing Tatum, left) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) foul up badly enough to land themselves transfers to the youth undercover division at 21 Jump Street . Sony Pictures hide caption

21 Jump Street

• Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
• Genre: Comedy
• Running Time: 109 minutes

Rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence

With: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Rob Riggle

Watch Clips

'Miranda Rights'

Credit: Sony Pictures

'Stereotypes'

It was inevitable that one of Hollywood's many recent reboots would eventually attain sentience. Hence the arrival of 21 Jump Street , a film that not only knows it's a remake, but knows how absurd it has to be to succeed as a remake.

This particular edition of "Hey, you've seen this before" is based on an '80s TV series about cops who posed undercover as high school students — a show that far fewer people would remember now if it hadn't starred a young Johnny Depp. In fact the impetus for this reawakening is so transparently flimsy that the movie acknowledges as much with a shrug: "They lack creativity," a deputy (Nick Offerman) tells incompetent cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when explaining why the police department is reviving "a canceled program from the '80s."

Any other objections over the premise's absurdity? 21 Jump Street will dismiss them, too. Tatum looks way too old to pass for 17 — which his teachers acknowledge. Ice Cube plays a stereotypical angry black police captain — but don't tell it to his face. Schmidt and Jenko are welcomed as new students only a month before prom — whatever, man. Want to see some explosions?

The devil-may-care attitude is what makes 21 Jump Street so entertaining. With no need to feign loyalty to their source material, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller can shove together a bunch of outrageously contrived set pieces just to see what happens. Neither Hill nor Tatum has any interest in channeling a young-Depp smolder, so instead they bounce casually off each other with the ease of faded jeans in the spin cycle, riffing on everything from Miranda rights to proper car-chase technique.

Hill is reliably entertaining here, still able to wring laughs from awkward vulgarity even after his serious Oscar-nominated number-crunching in Moneyball . But Tatum is the real surprise: Generally better known for pure-muscle roles in films like Step Up and G.I. Joe , the former stripper proves he has adept comic chops. When he reveals a long-held prom fantasy (it involves doves), there's a yearning in his eyes that is all the funnier for its believability.

Schmidt and Jenko try to convince popular kid — and suspected drug dealer — Eric (Dave Franco) that they're just regular high school students. Sony Pictures hide caption

21 Jump Street takes special pleasure in subverting expectations. Despite Ice Cube's early instructions to "embrace your stereotypes," Schmidt and Jenko end up embracing each other's due to a careless mix-up on the first day of school, making Hill the cool kid and Tatum the nerd. And as they attempt to reinvent themselves on the fly, the duo become amazed to learn how much high school has changed. The drug dealers drive hybrids, no one calls each other on the phone anymore, and it's no longer acceptable to exert your dominance by face-punching the first guy who looks at you funny. It's a premise that cleverly subverts the movie's reason for being: Just because you've done it before doesn't mean you'll know how to do it again.

Screenwriter Michael Bacall, who shares a story credit with Hill, also co-wrote another 2012 teen raunch-com, the grotesquely sleazy Project X . How to explain why this one works when that one didn't? 21 Jump Street subverts expectations again by respecting its characters enough to give them motivations and personality, instead of simply pumping them full of substances. Though the movie has its fair share of those, too: In the funniest scene, Schmidt and Jenko ingest, while at school, the very drug they're supposed to be putting a stop to.

Is the film too long? Does it go for the easy laugh a few too many times? Whatever, man. If remakes must exist, they all should try to jump this high.

• Columbia Pictures

Summary Schmidt and Jenko are more than ready to leave their adolescent problems behind. Joining the police force and the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover in a local high school. As they trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, Schmidt and Jenko risk their lives to investigate a violent and dange ... Read More

Directed By : Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Written By : Michael Bacall, Jonah Hill, Patrick Hasburgh, Stephen J. Cannell

21 Jump Street

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Channing Tatum

Captain Dickson

Brie Larson

Molly tracey.

Dave Franco

Eric molson.

Mr. Walters

Deray davis.

Chris Parnell

Ellie Kemper

Jake Johnson

Principal dadier.

Nick Offerman

Deputy chief hardy.

Holly Robinson Peete

Officer judy hoffs.

Johnny Pemberton

Stanley wong.

Justin Hires

Brett lapeyrouse.

Lindsey Broad

Caroline Aaron

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21 Jump Street (2012)

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21 Jump Street

• Action/Adventure , Comedy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• March 16, 2012
• Jonah Hill as Schmidt; Channing Tatum as Jenko; Brie Larson as Molly Tracey; Dave Franco as Eric Molson; Rob Riggle as Mr. Walters; DeRay Davis as Domingo; Ice Cube as Captain Dickson

Home Release Date

• June 26, 2012
• Phil Lord|Chris Miller

Distributor

• Sony Pictures

Movie Review

We all know that a good education helps you go further. So in a way it just makes sense that Schmidt and Jenko—two fledging cops stuck in a less-than-glamorous park beat—might want to take a few classes here and there to move up the ranks.

But high school classes? When they’ve already graduated?

Welcome to 21 Jump Street , where cops masquerade as high school kids to take a bite outta crime—and the lunchroom casserole.

Granted, it’s not exactly a new idea, as the police chief wearily admits. It’s a program reboot—one that suggests the department is out of ideas. “All they do now is recycle s‑‑‑ from the past and hope no one notices,” the chief explains.

For their part, Schmidt and Jenko just hope no one looks too closely at the school’s old yearbooks. The duo graduated only six years earlier—not that they hung out much. Schmidt was a geeky brain, Jenko a dumb jock, and the only time their paths crossed was if Jenko thought Schmidt was in need of a wedgie.

But times change and the two are the best of friends now, ready to relive and possibly improve upon their high school days. Jenko even gives Schmidt tips on how to be one of the cool kids: Don’t ever show interest in anything. Make fun of people who do. Drive a rad car. And … well, that’s about it.

But once they get there, they find that high school’s changed a bit. The cool kids ride around on bicycles (better for the environment) and actually care about the world around them. They think organized sports (which Jenko excelled in) are “fascist.” Suddenly, Schmidt’s in with the in clique, and Jenko’s hanging out with the science nerds.

What gives? And will their relationship stand the strain? Will Schmidt finally take a girl to prom? Will Jenko learn the periodic table by heart? Oh yeah, and weren’t they supposed to solve some sort of a crime?

Positive Elements

We get the sense that Schmidt and Jenko truly care about each other. When Jenko tells Schmidt that he would take a bullet for him, we know he means it—and later on he proves it.

Spiritual Elements

Just what’s located at the actual (fictional) address of 21 Jump Street ? A Korean church wherein baby-faced undercover cops gather to discuss their exploits and be yelled at by gruff Capt. Dickson. The sanctuary’s focal point is an Oriental-looking Christ figure on the cross, hand outstretched to touch a dove. Schmidt and others call it Korean Jesus, and before embarking on his new assignment, Schmidt offers what appears to be a sincere but profane prayer to the corpus. “I’m sorry for swearing so much,” he prays. “The end.”

Sexual Content

Audiences walk in on a threesome; from the side a man and two women are shown tangled up together nude.

Schmidt becomes smitten with Molly, an 18-year-old student. The two kiss and flirt, and Schmidt sends her a disturbingly sexual picture via cellphone. The two talk about various body parts. She’s also involved with Eric, another boy at school. But Eric tells Schmidt that while they occasionally engage in oral sex, they’re not together.

A drunk high school girl tries to unzip Jenko’s pants in order to perform oral sex on him. A female chemistry teacher crushes on him, making (often subconsciously) suggestive come-ons. Later, after his cover’s blown, Jenko and the teacher are shown having sex. (Sexual movements and sounds are featured.)

Much is made of Jenko’s presumed sexual experience and Schmidt’s lack of said experience in high school. At a party, revelers draw an ejaculating penis on a picture of Schmidt when he was 8, labeling it with the kinds of words so often seen in grungy convenience store bathroom stalls. Schmidt makes lewd gestures with a relay baton. Someone makes a passing reference to incest. The movie makes it look as if three high school boys are involved in a hook-up with hookers in a bathroom stall. (In reality, they’re setting up impromptu surveillance.)

Jenko and Schmidt are clearly heterosexual, but that doesn’t stop the screenplay from taking their friendship and jokingly twisting it into something else entirely. The two mimic sexual acts with captured thugs and each other. And one joke evokes the inability to climax. In an attempt to intimidate, Jenko mistakenly makes a homosexual come-on to an evildoer.

Someone’s penis is shot off, and the wounded party picks up the appendage with his mouth. Someone else laments that, as part of an undercover op, he was require to tattoo his penis. A drug dealer worries about what might happen to him in prison. “It rhymes with grape !” he blurts.

Violent Content

Schmidt, Jenko and a host of bad guys get into a huge gunfight wherein several people lose their lives. One guy gets shot through the neck, blood pulsing out of the wound. Another survives several bullets to the chest by way of a protective vest. (He’s shown bleeding from his arm.) Still another is shot in the groin.

At a party, Schmidt and Jenko duke it out with several ruffians until Schmidt takes the leader down by smashing a decorative pot over his head. Schmidt gets stabbed, and we see the blade being taken out and the wound cleaned.

A cross-town chase with bikers leads to one rider having his legs crushed by an oncoming vehicle. Another motorcycle gangster is hit by a car and then in turn stomps all over it. An explosion takes out a truck full of chickens. Another flambés a pair of bad guys in a limo.

Jenko and Schmidt practice getting hit by a car; Schmidt’s injured in the process. Jenko slams Schmidt down on a mat during wrestling training and battles him onstage during a high school play. Maliferous types tackle and are tackled by cops. Schmidt fires bullets in the air, scaring people. He also pushes down an elderly woman in an effort to keep her from blowing his cover.

Crude or Profane Language

The script is plastered with about 125 f-words and at least 70 s-words. There are generous uses of “a‑‑,” “b‑‑ch” and “h‑‑‑.” Vulgar and obscene words reference genitals and sex acts. God’s name is abused around 20 times, at least seven of which are paired with “d‑‑n.” Jesus’ name is abused two or three times. The n-word crops up a few more than that.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Schmidt and Jenko are out to bust a drug ring, but that doesn’t keep them from using and distributing alcohol and drugs themselves. They throw a party to try to cozy up to the cool kids, buying veritable vats of beer and stealing a sizable bag of marijuana from police evidence lockup to “entertain” the underage attendees. Where’s their ethical line in the sand? At cocaine. Schmidt tells Jenko not to take a brick-sized bag of it, saying they just want to show the kids a good time, not mess up their lives.

Additionally, the young cops are forced to take the synthetic drug they’re trying to track down. While under its influence, the two disrupt school, hallucinate and drool before falling asleep. We see others use it too—exhibiting extraordinary confidence and aggression. We learn that one boy died after taking it.

Schmidt and Jenko try to bust bikers for smoking pot in the park. And when they search a gang member’s motorcycle, they find a white substance someone refers to as “real drugs.” A teacher tells a wildly inappropriate story about doing cocaine with Willie Nelson’s horse.

Other Negative Elements

Jenko and Schmidt break several rules set forth by their boss, from not serving alcohol to minors, to not getting “involved” with students and/or teachers. Students jailbreak someone’s phone.

Schmidt makes a show of chafing under his parents’ rules, telling a kid, “You’re so lucky your parents don’t give a s‑‑‑ about you.” Jenko punches a boy he learns is gay, and is accused of homophobia. Schmidt defends his partner, saying it would’ve been homophobic for him to not hit the kid simply because he was gay.

Defecation is a huge topic of conversation. Jenko and Schmidt complain about park duty, as it largely consists of dealing with dog-poop violations. After getting hit by a car (remember, they’re practicing their technique), Schmidt says he likely soiled his pants. Dickson threatens his charges with a disgusting act involving a snorkel.

Someone throws up. A visual gag involves purging.

The original 21 Jump Street , a TV cop procedural that aired on Fox, holds the distinction of jump-starting the career of one Johnny Depp. My sister and I grew up in the 1980s, when that show was about the closest thing to a hit the fledgling network had. A huge poster of Johnny Depp hung on her bedroom door, and I imagined she looked at it for hours on end, fluttering her eyelids at it every now and then.

It was, at the time, a hip but fairly rote show—not known to press up against too many boundaries and always apt to end its stories with a cogent moral or two. It sometimes even offered up full-blown public service announcements presented by its stars.

This movie iteration doesn’t go quite that far. OK, it doesn’t go in that direction at all. There’s no “just say no to drugs” message here or “don’t have sex before you’re married.” It’s nice that the kids care for the environment and all … but given the fact that some of them turn out to be drug dealers sort of undercuts the point.

No, this new incarnation of 21 Jump Street punts the morals and goes for the gags—in terms of both situation-based laughs and gross-out giggles. And on both counts, it’s successful.

Jonah Hill (Schmidt) and Channing Tatum (Jenko) make this a funny and, at times, oddly tender buddy-cop movie. Following them around are a few nice messages about friendship … and what can happen to your friendship when your priorities get out of whack.

But since we’re talking about whacked-out priorities, I suppose we could put this whole movie in that basket. 21 Jump Street isn’t the most egregious rated-R movie I’ve seen even this month (no thank you, Project X ), but it’s still problematic on so many different levels it’s amazing its makers had space to get any clean laughs in at all.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Movie Review – 21 Jump Street (2012)

April 16, 2012 by admin

21 Jump Street , 2012.

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Ellie Kemper, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle and Ice Cube.

A pair of underachieving cops (Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum) become part of a special unit that embeds undercover cops in high school. Their mission – to blend in and covertly bring down a synthetic drug ring.

Immediately, anyone who is familiar with the original 21 Jump Street is going to ask; “Why the hell is Hollywood looking to ruin another successful 80s TV franchise with a cinematic adaption?” What’s exceptionally refreshing with 21 Jump Street is that the filmmakers and stars are on the audiences’ side. They are totally aware that it’s expected to be overly serious tripe and instead use the overall premise to poke fun at its ridiculousness and ultimately make a film about getting the opportunity to relive your high school experience… but with way more doves and slow-mo shooting.

We’re introduced to our characters while they’re still in high school. Jonah Hill’s Schmidt is an often bullied, frumpy, unpopular, nerd and Channing Tatum’s Jenko is the typical popular, stupid jock and bully. Fast forward to current day and they’re recruits for the police who help each other graduate (Hill brings the brains and Tatum the brawn). A ridiculous attempted arrest busts them down to the ‘Jump Street’ ranks.

Jonah Hill’s comedic sensibility is all over this role. He plays the kind of desperate straight man, down-trodden but getting a second chance. On the whole it’s a pretty safe performance. Channing Tatum goes back attempting to slot into his jock role and finds associating with the nerds and that ‘learning is fun’ this time round. It’s his first straight-up comedic role and I really enjoyed what he brought to it. He’s kind of endearing as the pretty dolt.

The highlights in the film for me are the totally (and I guess intentionally) bad recreations of the boys in their original high school days and their first trip back to school. My favourite moments in 21 Jump Street are these 90s guys trying to navigate their way through 21st century high school. It’s hilarious taking the paradigms of high school cliques that have stood since John Hughes and making them laughably simplistic and ridiculous in the modern teenage context.

Once the boys have ingratiated themselves there’s a slight shift to create (a semblance of) drama, at which point 21 Jump Street loses some of the momentum. I realise that for textbook character / story arcs there’s a necessity to create a conflict between the characters but I felt that until that point it did a great job of not taking itself seriously at all. Fortunately it doesn’t last too long before the ridiculous humour is back in full swing.

The supporting cast are good at nailing ‘plot device’ generic characters with a twist. Ice Cube plays the unnecessarily and perpetually angry commanding official, happy to point out the inadequacies and boyish looks of our protagonists. Ellie Kemper ( Bridesmaids ) plays a mousy, quiet teacher that can’t keep her internal monologue under control around Jenko. A number of times she tangles her words and the results are increasingly propositional e.g., “Let me check out your chest… Let me check out your test.” Dave Franco is the Liam to Chris Hemsworth – younger and similar looking, but if you had more money / no scheduling conflicts you’d hire the other one. Rob Riggle (the sadistic cop in The Hangover ) is a lot of fun as the inappropriate P.E teacher; he’s got a bunch of really quotable lines and the most visually memorable and disgusting scene in the film (and no I won’t spoil it).

21 Jump Street is nothing like the original series. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum have a great chemistry and the strong beginning and ending do a pretty good job of disguising the flabby middle. It’s crass, self effacing, ‘meta’ stupidity and it works.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com. Follow him on Twitter here:@blakeisbatman.

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Movie Review: 21 Jump Street (2012)

• Mariusz Zubrowski
• Movie Reviews
• 12 responses
• --> March 12, 2012

Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell’s television drama “ 21 Jump Street ” was notable for a couple of reasons. First, it aired on the Fox Network for 103 episodes, becoming an early hit for the fledgling broadcasting company. Secondly, it sparked Johnny Depp’s acting career. Now, a cinematical adaptation of the same name has been helmed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who’ve worked on “ Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ” together. Strangely enough, it’s been rated R and features a cameo by Depp, who vents his frustrations via cartoony violence.

21 Jump Street follows police force partners, the meat-headed Jenko (Channing Tatum) and smarty-pants Schmidt (Jonah Hill). While they expected nonstop thrills, the two are put on the park duty. After a shabby arrest (during which they forget to read the Miranda Rights), their higher up (played by Nick Offerman) sentences the duo to an undercover unit that has the baby-faced cops infiltrating high schools to stop the flow of drugs. Operating in an old Korean church and led by Capt. Dickson (Ice Cube), their first assignment is stopping the flow of a new narcotic called HFS. Jenko tries to utilize his past experience as the prom king, whilst Schmidt tries to stay true to his teenage awkwardness. Yet times have changed, and with the reversal of roles, they must go out of their element to bust the suppliers.

In a bout of self-parody, screenwriter Michael Bacall crafts a hilarious remake. Part of the movie’s likability comes from not taking itself too seriously. With constant references to Hollywood rehashing old ideas and tight interplay, the physical gags and corny stereotypes are kept at a bare minimum. The oft-used pop-culture jabs, however, are stale (i.e., “You Justin Bieber lookin’ motherfuckas…”). Nonetheless, it’s always nice when the creator of the original television series decides to produce.

The idea of the poles inverting is genius. If “ The Vow ” proved anything, it’s that Tatum is a gym-junkie. On the other hand, films like “ Superbad ” have displayed Hill’s skill at playing awkward characters. It would’ve been too easy to cast them as the jock and nerd respectively and doing it conversely worked out. Tatum, oddly enough, has great comedic timing, and, these days, it’s not hard to envision the latter as a cool kid (as long as he had alcohol to spare). These performers work well together and are supported by fantastic actors like Rob Riggle, who recites his lines with enough energy to make his stock character, a clueless gym teacher, feel fresh. The potty-mouthed Ice Cube is another worthy addition.

But direction’s a bit flat. The locations are nothing special and Lord and Miller’s depiction of a drug high is less than original. There isn’t a definitive style and, whilst the movie relies largely on its performers and screenplay, I would’ve liked more of a visual panache. Nevertheless, although shining a light on today’s youth’s lack of morals, 21 Jump Street plays out like a modern high school party: Unpredictable, loud, raunchy fun.

Eventually I'll put something nifty here. Until then, know that I'm watching you. Closely.

Movie Review: Justice League (2017) Movie Review: My Scientology Movie (2015) Movie Review: The Magnificent Seven (2016) Movie Review: Creed (2015) Movie Review: The Green Inferno (2013) Movie Review: Sicario (2015) Movie Review: Terminator Genisys (2015)

'Movie Review: 21 Jump Street (2012)' have 12 comments

March 12, 2012 @ 11:17 am Jeremy

Johnny Depp with a cameo? I thought he abhorred the show..

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March 12, 2012 @ 12:30 pm Travis

Trailers make this look so unappealing. Figure I may as well watch the television show instead….

March 12, 2012 @ 2:05 pm Pete

Its good to see Channing Tatum easing up a bit. Hopefully Jonah Hill’s goofball humor rubbed off on him permanently.

March 12, 2012 @ 4:29 pm Richie Rich

Happy to read the movie isn’t a total joke, but it still makes me wonder what producers see when they fund these crappey tv shows into movies.

March 12, 2012 @ 10:50 pm Stan

I like Jonah Hill. Good to hear his Superbad/Moneyball success continues..

March 13, 2012 @ 2:51 am Yash

It’s a slow weekend at the cinema, based on your review jump st is the only movie that is mildly interesting/

March 13, 2012 @ 9:50 am Matt Silven

21 Jump Street was my show when I was a kid! Hoping when I see it this weekend it will be bring back some high school memories! :D

March 14, 2012 @ 4:58 pm Squigglz

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill is hilarious!!

March 15, 2012 @ 9:44 am Keith 12

I think everyone will be surprised at how great Tatum is in this. He wipes away the etched in image of him being nothing but a mopey dumb jock.

March 15, 2012 @ 6:06 pm Jeffrey Powter

A definite add to your funniest high school comedies top 10.

March 16, 2012 @ 8:58 pm Rubi

Johnny Depp lending his face to this movie made it all the better. Good review.

March 19, 2012 @ 5:30 pm BarWalker

I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard as when I did watching the stoned scene in the hallway. Comedy gold right there!

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21 JUMP STREET Review

21 Jump Street review. Matt reviews Phil Lord and Chris Miller's 21 Jump Street starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Brie Larson.

21 Jump Street is cocky as hell.  Usually, when a movie clearly lays out a set-up for an eventual payoff, we groan, lament the story's predictability, and all the impact is diminished because we saw the hit coming.  21 Jump Street comes up to the line of turning directly to the camera and saying, "This will come back later," and the joke still manages to hit like a sucker punch.  The set-up-pay-off humor is just one weapon in the film's arsenal.  Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller effortlessly move between the cartoonish, the absurd, the darkly comic, the vulgar, and almost every time the jokes absolutely kill.  But the excellent lead performances from Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum elevate the film from a raucous comedy, and they make 21 Jump Street not just a film where two bike cops mime having sex with an apprehended perp.  It's a film with a heart, a soul, and two bike cops miming having sex with an apprehended perp.

In 2005, Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) were at opposite ends of the social spectrum in high school.  Schmidt was the shy nerd and Jenko was the dumb jock.  Seven years later, they meet up again at the police academy where they discover that they can make-up for each other's shortcomings—Jenko helps Schmidt physically, Schmidt helps Jenko intellectually.  After they botch the arrest with the aforementioned mime-fucked perp by failing to properly read him his Miranda rights (because I guess the case would have been open-and-shut otherwise), the two are reassigned to work on an undercover unit stationed at the "Aroma of Christ" Korean Church on 21 Jump Street.  Jenko and Schmidt's mission is to go undercover as high school students, and find the supplier of a new synthetic drug.  The cops are assigned fake identities that would have them basically reprising who they were seven years ago, but a mix-up sets Schmidt with the cool kids, Jenko with the nerds, and the two get to see how the other half lived.

You don't have to be well-versed in 21 Jump Street mythology to enjoy the film. There is only one scene that will have a payoff if you're even passingly familiar with the original 1987 TV series.  To enjoy the film, you just need the ability to laugh at things that are funny.  The movie is a masterful comic collage where every element works perfectly to have you doubling over in laughter pains.  A prime example is when we see the stages of the synthetic drug.  The first four stages are "Giggles", "Tripping Balls", "Insane Over-Confidence", and "Holy Motherfucking Shit" (stage five is either "Asleepyness" or death).  We know these stages are coming because Jenko and Schimdt watch a video of a victim ( Johnny Simmons ) who OD'd on the drug.  When Jenko and Schmidt are forced to take the drug in front of the school's skeptical dealer ( Dave Franco ), we shouldn't be surprised to see the undercover cops reenacting these effects, and yet the sequence is absolutely phenomenal.  Lord and Miller perfectly capture the warped mental state of our heroes, and Hill and Tatum manage to differentiate their performances even though the characters are having the same reactions to the drug.  During the "Insane Over-Confidence" phase, the camera switches between Jenko believing he's a chemistry genius ("Fuck you, science!" he proclaims after thinking he's written out a brilliant formula in front of his AP Chemistry class), and Schmidt breaking out of his shell for a perfect rendition of "I've Gotta Crow."  These delightfully bizarre and manic moments of comic energy run throughout 21 Jump Street .

I've never been impressed by Tatum until now, and it may be a discredit to his previous films for not bringing out the charisma, energy, and overall talent he shows here.  His role in 21 Jump Street pushes him far beyond the safe zone of "funny dumb guy" to where he has to throw himself into the slapstick, the one-liners, the absurd moments, and basically keep pace with everything the film is trying to do.  As for Hill, his performance is as staggeringly funny as one would expect from a comic actor of his caliber.  He provides the throwaway one-liners that people will be quoting for years to come, and has the cutting asides that audiences may have missed the first time because they were laughing so hard.

But what makes 21 Jump Street special isn't just the talent of everyone involved or how they excel at a variety of comic styles.  It's the thoughtful and emotional friendship story at the center.  Rather than shove another "bromance" down our throats, 21 Jump Street makes the characters wrestle with what they did and didn't have in high school.  These characters arcs require more than comic timing and delivery.  They require real performances, and the movie is unafraid to show Jenko and Schmidt being upset or vulnerable.  But none of it is saccharine or forced.  Characters don't scream about how they feel.  The actors convey it, their chemistry sells it, we understand it, and then the film quickly moves on to Jonah Hill, dressed in a Peter Pan costume, going on a high-speed getaway from a biker gang.

21 Jump Street is film comedy in its finest form.  The movie is comfortable being weird, it uses vulgarity but never as a crutch, it gives every actor a chance to shine, and it all works so well that you barely stop to consider that Schmidt's love-interest is a high-schooler ( Brie Larson ).  The movie is good-natured but unapologetic in trying to make the audience laugh as hard as possible for as long as possible.  And there's no need to apologize when you try, and then succeed, conquer, crush, stand victorious over the bodies of your enemies, and scream out their Miranda rights.

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Film Review: ’21 Jump Street’

It’s no secret that the thought of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum leading the way on a film adaptation of 21 Jump Street made me ill. For years there have been a never-ending parade of 80’s TV and film projects being re-booted/re-imagined/re-hashed, nearly all of which have felt like spiritual kicks to the groin. Jump Street (that what’s the cool kids call it) is only the latest in a long string of lazy ideas, where a nostalgic property has its script shuffled together, run through a computer algorithm, and typed by blind monkeys in order to produce something investors can make money on.

Now, if you’re under 25 or over 40, I doubt any of my ranting matters. More than likely, you never knew the show existed/didn’t watch it/quickly determined it wasn’t for you. For all of those people, chances are … and this really, REALLY hurts to admit … chances are you’re going to like what Hill, Tatum and their cohorts came up with.

First of all, it’s directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the writers behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and written by Michael Bacall , the writer behind Scott Pilgrim vs. the World . They know funny. The film quickly disperses with back story and gets us right into the undercover portion of the plot, which allows for a number of great young actors like Dave Franco and Brie Larsen to join up with more established comedians like Rob Riggle and Chris Parnell. Even Ice Cube, playing the captain of Jump Street, captured the ideals being brought to the table. To its credit, the film knows they’re playing with stereotypes and borrowed source material; there is a full acknowledgment of this notion and it eases the sting for fans somewhat.

So if you saw the trailers and are all giddy with excitement, by all means go and see this film. HOWEVER … if you’re like me and catch yourself singing the TV theme song now and again. Or if you’re like me and you own any/all of the series on DVD (or VHS if you’re even more awesome). Or if you’re like me and even find glee in the Richard Grieco era of the show. Well … you might want to think seventeen or eighteen times about whether you need to see this movie.

I say all this not because the movie isn’t funny. It is. I laughed out loud multiple times. (Wow it hurts to say that.) And there’s a distinct possibility I’d have let most of the changes made to the format go … except there’s one very, very, very, VERY unforgivable scene. And It hurts even more that I can’t say what it is because it would be a major spoiler. But if you trust me at all with these things (and you should), true 21 Jump Street fans should just stay at home and re-watch a few episodes. Let everyone else watch the movie and not realize the injustice perpetrated on film; made worse because of the people who agreed to let it happen.

So while this isn’t truly destroying the legacy of the source material, like The Green Hornet … it’s more … urinating on the 21 Jump Street legacy. A light spray, free of asparagus, but it’s still a golden shower.

I will separate my seething anger long enough to give the movie a passing, however. Putting aside the metaphorical middle finger to the show, anyone not holding on as tight as myself will probably like this quite a bit. As with most comedies these days, the trailer gives you the best indication of the type of comedy you’re in for, and if it appealed to you, then you know what to do. Meanwhile, I’m going to curl up into the fetal position for a bit … it’ll make me feel better about what I saw and what I just had to write.

21 Jump Street hits theaters on March 16, 2012 and is rated R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, teen drinking and some violence.

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Movie Review: 21 Jump Street Is an Agreeable Shambles

It’s funny-strange when cultural properties like 21 Jump Street are remade with the same titles, characters, and premises but as parodies of their former selves. On one hand, who would want a straight remake of, say, The Brady Bunch , which presented to a ferociously polarized country at the height of sixties counterculture the sugary vision of an apolitical, pure-blood, suburban California never-never land? We needed a corrective. On the other hand, what does it say that the people who created the show — and were onboard with the movie — had so little invested in their utopian vision that they happily let it be travestied? And while we’re on the subject, what of Tim Burton’s upcoming Dark Shadows , which (as a Gothic horror–Barnabas freak from way back) I’ve looked forward to as no other movie this millennium, but turns out (on the basis of its soul-crushingly bad trailer ) to be a cartoonish Addams Family –style send-up rather than something akin to Burton’s terrific, Grand Guignol Hammer homage Sleepy Hollow ? Even those of us who routinely cringed when Jonathan Frid fluffed his lines and tried not to notice wobbling and collapsing scenery will probably still feel as if our imaginative lives are being violated.

It’s in this context that the new big-screen 21 Jump Street is not half-bad. It isn’t a straight, serious remake of the eighties Fox TV series but it’s also not a spoof, despite some broad jabs at the old settings and characters. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Mitchell ( Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs ) borrow the premise for something different: a comic fantasy about going back and reliving one’s high school years (which did a number on us all).

I don’t know how many people feel loyalty to the old show, in which Johnny Depp played a baby-faced cop who couldn’t get taken seriously on the streets and was shifted to an undercover high-school unit operating out of an old church (at 21 Jump Street). Probably not a lot. The show had a gritty, we’re-so-frank vibe (the Fox network was brand new and looking to distinguish itself from the Big Three) but the scripts tended to be painfully earnest (and clunky) and Depp was only half-formed, groping his way toward a standard Method juvenile career before his swerve into late-Brando-style weirdness.

In the movie, tubby Jonah Hill and hunky Channing Tatum are rookie cops who’d once been in the same high-school class — but in polar-opposite social classes. After a bad, slapstick basic-training first act, the movie settles down and becomes oddly compelling. The new partners are ordered (by a screaming Ice Cube, whose motto is, “Embrace your stereotype!”) to impersonate high-school students to trace the origin of a designer drug that’s wacking kids out. (One teen even kills himself, which isn’t a particularly zany springboard for a comedy.) Bizarrely, they move in with Hill’s parents, setting the stage for a dreamlike, time-travel vibe in which everything looks almost the same but nothing remotely is. In the few years since they graduated the zeitgeist has changed: What was square is now hip, what was hip is square, and no one is square enough to use words like “hip” or “square.” Bullying is not cool, phat, or dope. Everyone’s gone green.

The film’s most ingenious twist is the mix-up of the hapless pairs’ aliases, whereby Hill finds himself paired with the popular kids — on the track team, starring in a musical, and in a heavy flirtation with cutie Brie Larson. Tatum, whose eyes glaze over when he opens a book, is now surrounded by science nerds. The fun is watching each of them, after multiple rocky starts, rise to the occasion and become rather Zenlike, with halting Hill finding his inner smoothie and dim Tatum some intellectual resources — among them learning how to tap cell phones. It’s as if the characters from The Breakfast Club joined forces and then filled in for the Mission: Impossible team.

I don’t know where Hill is going as an actor — like Depp on the original show, he’s still unformed — but he has high energy and crack timing. You can’t dislike someone so eager to please. Tatum, who has always struck me as one of our more egregiously empty-headed juveniles, finds his wits onscreen: You see the wheels begin to turn, first very, very slowly, then at a surprising clip. The best scenes feature an anti-bullying environmentalist drug dealer played by Dave Franco, who’s like a cross between his weirdo brother James and fifties Method neurotics like Montgomery Clift.

21 Jump Street is an agreeable shambles until its last fifteen minutes, when it’s not so agreeable anymore. The splattery shoot-outs are supposed to be great fun but are staged with neither wit nor bravura — this is the sort of movie where cops bring down bad guys in slow motion and then high-five each other. The worst thing is a belabored gonzo joke at the expense of the TV show that would need to be a lot funnier than it is to earn its disrespect. The new 21 Jump Street doesn’t have to worship at the altar of its predecessor, but it could send it off with a little more class.

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21 Jump Street (United States, 2012)

The television series 21 Jump Street , like many old shows, is a product of its time. Trying to accomplish a "straight" remake of something so irrevocably tied to the '80s could not be done in 2012; it wouldn't work. When Michael Mann reworked Miami Vice , he discarded much of what made it "hip" during its TV run and concentrated on the raw premise. That's one way to do it. Another way is go about things the way Todd Phillips did with Starsky & Hutch : transform it into a comedy/parody. With 21 Jump Street , a series one would not assume deserved a big-screen resurrection, the filmmakers have opted with the latter approach. From start to finish, little that happens during the course of this production is intended to be taken seriously.

21 Jump Street sends up action movies. It sends up cop movies. It sends up high school movies. It sends up motion picture conventions. Sometimes, it's clever. Sometimes, it's crude. And sometimes it falls into the trap of creating unfunny-just-for-Jonah Hill set pieces. The biggest sin is that it's too long. At 90 minutes, this might have been breezy and enjoyable. At 109 minutes, it drags. 21 Jump Street needs a ninth-inning cameo to keep the audience's attention. Still, all things considered, the film is funnier than one might expect. The people behind the camera - directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who previously collaborated on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ) and scribes Hill and Michael Bacall - put some effort into transforming 21 Jump Street into something that might appeal to a current audience. This production does not rely solely upon nostalgia to get bodies into theater seats.

It starts out as a mismatched buddy movie. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) is the socially inept nerd. He may be a virgin and he's certainly awkward around women. His best friend is Jenko (Channing Tatum), an easygoing, handsome, dumb guy who has no problems with the opposite sex. He and Schmidt bond while working their way through the police academy, then become partners thereafter. When it becomes apparent they are not cut out for conventional cop work, they are reassigned to the Jump Street Squad, headed by the angry Captain Dickson (Ice Cube). Because they (supposedly) look younger than they are, they are ideal candidates to return to high school, infiltrate the student body, and locate the supplier of a new designer drug. In a reversal of roles, Schmidt ends up hooking up with the cool kids while Jenko falls in with the geeks. Still, Schmidt's unease with women is not cured by his new "popular" status, as is proven when he interacts with Molly (Brie Larson), his co-star in a school play. But he makes contact with the local pusher, Eric (Dave Franco), while Jenko tries to determine whether anyone might be using the chemistry lab to synthesize the drug.

21 Jump Street contains a few "action scenes" with a tongue-in-cheek approach that keeps them from becoming too tedious. The movie is ruthless in lampooning the tendency of things to blow up during car chases. This becomes a running gag with an amusing (if predictable) payoff. The script also makes repeated references to the practice of having older actors play teenagers in high school movies. Tatum is 31 pretending to be 19, but at one point he's referred to as "looking like a 40-year-old guy." None of the main actors are under 20, with Dave Franco (the younger brother of James) clocking in at 26 and Brie Larson the baby of the group at 21.

Some of the funniest scenes belong to Ice Cube's "angry black captain" who goes on profane rants that would make Samuel L. Jackson proud. If there's a problem with this character, however, it's that we expect an ironic twist that never materializes. The movie earns its R-rating by packing the script with f-bombs that add little to the proceedings. For the most part, this is a PG-13 movie masquerading as something more edgy. In fact, the use of profanity makes 21 Jump Street seem more juvenile than adult.

The chemistry between the leads is fitful but evident. That's a key element in even a movie as silly and lightweight as this one. Jonah Hill, after having pushed the envelope and shown some acting ability in Moneyball , has fallen back into his typecast role as the socially awkward outsider. Channing Tatum is charming and appealing, but I'm still trying to figure out whether he can act. The two are okay together, but no one is going to mistake them for Felix and Oscar or Rick and Louis. They fit the mood of 21 Jump Street , which is that of a fitfully entertaining but throwaway re-invention of a hopelessly outdated TV show. Yes, there are laughs to be had here, but I wonder whether it might be more amusing to watch episodes of the old TV show. Cutting edge drama from 1987 might look like high comedy in 2012.

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21 JUMP STREET

"sick obscene humor".

What You Need To Know:

(PaPaPa, ABAB, E, Ho, PC, APAP, LLL, VVV, SSS, NNN, AA, DDD, MMM) Very strong pagan worldview where high school students are driven by desires for sex, alcohol, drugs, and pleasure, some strong mocking of God and Jesus, brief environmentalist, homosexual, and politically correct elements used for humor, plus a strong Anti-American representation of police being crude, vulgar, and providing teenagers with alcohol and drugs, with repeated car theft by police; at least 201 obscenities and four profanities; very strong violence includes fights, stabbing, shootings, explosions, one man is shot in the groin and attempts to recover the portion of his anatomy that was shot off; very strong sexual content and references includes multiple uses of phallic imagery and sexual innuendo, brief but graphic scene of three naked high school students fornicating, an additional scene of people fornicating; excessive nudity includes multiple uses of phallic imagery; big party with a massive supply of alcohol and associated drunken behavior, plus providing alcohol to teenagers; major scenes of drug use and abuse including scenes that present drug trips as humorous events and providing drugs to teenagers; and, stealing, horrid representation of teachers being drug dealers and desiring sex with students.

More Detail:

21 JUMP STREET is a prime example of a police comedy finding humor in all the wrong places: sex, drugs, crime, extreme vulgarity, and the mocking of Jesus Christ. It’s the kind of movie every young person should avoid, but won’t.

The setup itself is funny. A nerd (Jonah Hill) and a not-too-bright football hero (Channing Tatum) graduate from high school and go into training as policemen. The nerd helps the jock pass written tests, and the jock helps the nerd get through physical training exercises. They graduate and are made partners. After making fools of themselves in their first arrest, they’re assigned to go undercover as high school students. Because they couldn’t remember their own undercover names, the jock winds up in the nerd’s classes and vice versa. This is a great set up for comedy. Unfortunately, even in the set up, the language is gutter talk and the humor is extremely disrespectful of police.

The post they’re assigned to is located at 21 Jump Street – in an old church named “The Aroma of Christ Church” turned into an undercover police headquarters. The police captain goes up to the pulpit to give a very vulgar speech to his new recruits. An electric sign behind him reads “God is Love” and a cross with an image of Jesus on it becomes the butt of several jokes. The nerd cop even gets to his knees and says a vulgar prayer while his partner laughs at him in the background.

Assigned to find the school’s drug dealer and his sources, they quickly discover the dealer is the school’s popular environmentalist. To “nail” him they are forced to buy some drugs and use them in his presence. The movie uses their resulting drug trip as an opportunity for humor. To continue their quest to catch the bad guys, the undercover policemen hold a party. They buy lots of alcohol and raid the police headquarters for marijuana and other drugs to serve their guests. The debauched party includes sex, nudity, and violence.

21 JUMP STREET is funny. It could actually do well because it provides ample entertainment value to people with very low moral standards. Sadly, 21 JUMP STREET presents a pathetic view of America’s schools and police. Teachers are involved in drug dealing and making sexual advances to students. Police are shown as crude and vulgar, as well as supplying teenagers with alcohol and drugs. 21 JUMP STREET also makes light of drug use and is laden with 201 obscenities and four profanities. The jokes making fun of Jesus and Christianity are also abhorrent.

Parents should be extremely wary because this movie will be talked about in schools. In fact, there will be peer pressure put on “Christian” teenagers to see this movie. Parents will be told, “It’s just a comedy. I don’t take it seriously. I’ll never do any of that stuff.”

The truth is there are drugs in schools. There are parties where teenagers drink, use drugs, and engage in violence. There are children killed at such parties. The author of this review knew a mother whose son was killed at such a party because the other partiers thought it was fun (when they were drunk).

This movie was made by Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Before the creation of the MPAA ratings system, Columbia and MGM voluntarily abided by the Motion Picture Production Code. It contained standards like:

“Illegal drug traffic must not be portrayed in such a way as to stimulate curiosity concerning the use of, or traffic in, such drugs; nor shall scenes be approved which show the use of illegal drugs, or their effects, in detail.”

“Obscenity in word, gesture, reference, song, joke or by suggestion (even when likely to be understood only by part of the audience) is forbidden.”

Columbia and MGM would never have made 21 JUMP STREET when Hollywood had these voluntary production standards.

Columbia and MGM are not sleazy independent studios. They’re two of the proudest names in the history of moviemaking. MGM made GONE WITH THE WIND, QUO VADIS, BEN HUR, KING OF KINGS and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO.

Is America better off with this comical R-rated version of 21 JUMP STREET (the original series was created by the late Stephen J. Cannell who created several entertaining, positive shows like BARETTA, THE ROCKFORD FILES, THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, and THE A-TEAM)? Will the world have a better opinion of Americans?

Please pray that this movie doesn’t do well. Encourage everyone who claims any respect for Jesus Christ not to support 21 JUMP STREET. We live in a free society where producers can make such movies, but we are free to encourage everyone we know to avoid buying tickets.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, 22 jump street.

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Why are you reading this review? 

It's a legitimate question, not just because "22 Jump Street" is a sequel to a hit, and therefore an example of what's known as a "critic-proof movie," but also because it reviews itself as it goes along. It's a buddy cop movie about buddy cop movies that seems determined to go Edgar Wright's modern classic "Hot Fuzz" one better (nobody can do that, but nice try). It's also a sequel about sequels, and the often cynical appeal of sequels. And it's very, very, very,  very  aware of itself as a movie—or "movie." It anticipates any observation or objection you might make and makes it first, with a grin and a shrug. It pushes the meta-humor thing so far that after a while, watching it starts to feel like an amiable surrender to low expectations—not unlike the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road" pictures, some of which felt so obligatory that after a certain point the studio might as well have replaced the films with printed cards telling fans where to send their money.

In " 21 Jump Street ," officers Jenko ( Channing Tatum ) and Schmidt ( Jonah Hill ) went undercover at a high school. In this film, it's college. Atmospheric details aside, though, the investigations are so similar that Jenko, Schmidt and other characters remark on their similarity, as well as the fact that this is a sequel to film a based on a TV show, and that nothing of consequence will happen in it. There are jokes about how sequels are "always worse the second time around" but they've been given "carte blanche with the budget, mother------r," and how the new precinct house, an open-aired monstrosity, looks "twice as expensive" as the one in the last movie "for no reason" and resembles "a cube of ice" (a phrase uttered when costar Ice Cube appears as the duo's commanding officer, Capt. Dickson). Jenko sighs that he's "the first person in my family to pretend to go to college," then gets in good with a fraternity that might be dealing a deadly amphetamine-like drug known as Wi-Fi. Schmidt poses as Jenko's blood brother, a schlump. 

And it's here that the script, credited to Michael Bacall , veers away from pure spoof and becomes what Gender Studies majors might call a deconstruction of masculine codes, kidding the same macho clichés it indulges. This is not a new approach. The James Bond films, Sergio Leone westerns, the " Lethal Weapon " series, the under-seen and underrated " Gunmen ," the "Bad Boys" movies, Jackie Chan's whole career, and the aforementioned "Hot Fuzz"—which you should watch immediately if you haven't already—all did it, too, to varying degrees. Still, "22 Jump Street" is a superior example. It takes the homoerotic energy bubbling under the surface of buddy action flicks and raises it into the sunlight, where it can flex its pecs and growl. 

The physical differences between the tall, beefy, athletic Jenko and the short, doughy Schmidt were a source of humor in the first film. Here they're underlined by having Jenko become a football star to buddy up with one key suspect, a quarterback and fraternity bigwig played by Wyatt Russell . Their relationship is based on appreciating each other's alpha male awesomeness. (Jenko has the edge; he can open beer bottles with his eyelids.) Their obsessive workouts stand in for the sex they won't have because they're straight. Meanwhile, Schmidt plays femme to Jenko's butch, falling for a poetry major named Maya ( Amber Stevens ) and melting around her as a stereotypical female groupie might melt around a young male literary lion. (Schmidt even gets a "walk of shame" after the first night they spend together, clutching his sneakers like heels.) After a while Schmidt starts to suspect that Jenko is in too deep at the frat—not a euphemism, amazingly—and they have a devastating talk that ends with Jenko saying that maybe it's time that they investigated other people. 

Is this movie anti-homophobic, or is it dealing in what critic Sam Adams calls " meta-homophobia "? Despite a few crude lapses, it's more the former, I think; if anything, this film's relentless joking about Schmidt and Jenko as sweethearts who refuse to consummate feels like a cultural advance. A movie like this could not have been made twenty years ago, or even ten, unless it were preaching to the choir of art house audiences. It might have had other characters kidding about how Schmidt and Jenko should just get a room already, but it wouldn't have elaborated on it at feature length, with such intensity. The partners in "22 Jump Street" don't kiss, but the way Hill and Tatum deliver state-of-the-relationship lines while fighting back tears, they don't have to. There's a closeup of the pouty-lipped Jenko dolled up for a fraternity rush party, too-tight puka necklace choking his Frankenstein's-monster neck, that distills a century's worth of fratboy sublimation to one image. 

Hill and Tatum are a brilliant team. They play dumb the way Jelly Roll Morton played piano. Tatum, in particular, has a gift for portraying lunkheaded goodness. No matter who you are, Jenko is happy to see you, and if you're nice to him, he'll love you till the end of time. He's the biggest, brawniest puppy in film history: Marmaduke as played by a human.

This seems as good a place as any to note that "22 Jump Street" is the latest film by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller , the auteurs behind a range of self-aware blockbusters, including the " Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs " films, " The Lego Movie " and "21 Jump Street." Lord and Miller are masters of eating their cake and having it, too. In all of their work—but "The Lego Movie" especially—you get the sense that they've thought long and hard (ahem) about the essence of the thing they're spoofing, and what, exactly, the viewer's thirst for that sort of entertainment says about them personally, as well as the culture that enfolds us. The "Lego Movie" song "Everything is Awesome" might be the definitive statement on consumerism as a way of life. The hero is a wage slave, living in an endless boring loop that he's convinced himself is peachy. Hype encourages him to feel that way because if he accepts his manufactured life, nobody involved in creating institutional structures or manufacturing goods or entertainment will have to try harder, much less change anything. Nobody questions. The money just flows.

That's a bracingly cynical point-of-view when you consider that Lord and Miller's films are part of the status quo that they're implicitly railing against. With its paint-by-numbers plotting and open acknowledgment that nothing onscreen makes sense (everyone thinks the cops are too old to pass for college dudes, and Schmidt's girlfriend's roommate, a witheringly sarcastic young woman played by Jillian Bell , demands that Schmidt "tell us about the war, any of them"), "22 Jump Street" is the sort of film that the Lego guy might watch alone in his nondescript little Lego apartment while eating Lego snacks from a Lego bowl and smiling desperately. 

But instead of being bored with itself, the film is lively, sometimes ecstatically silly. It has some of the greatest split-screen gags I've seen, the best of which, an extended drug trip, is "Duck Amuck" sublime. Even when it's not highlighting its movie-ness, your mind races to predict what clichés it'll skewer/indulge next. The final credits sequence listing all the sequels that the "Jump Street" team will make in the future feels like Lord and Miller's way of warning wisecracking viewers, "Don't try to out-funny us, because there's no joke you can make that we haven't thought of—and none of them were that clever to start with." The movie is post-entertainment entertainment. The joke's on everyone.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

22 Jump Street (2014)

Rated R for language throughout, sexual content, drug material, brief nudity and some violence

112 minutes

Jonah Hill as Schmidt

Channing Tatum as Jenko

Ice Cube as Captain Dickson

Dave Franco as Eric Molson

Nick Offerman as Deputy Chief Hardy

Peter Stormare as Big Meat

Rob Riggle as Mr. Walters

Wyatt Russell as Benji

Richard Grieco as Dennis Booker

Amber Stevens as Maya

Jillian Bell as Brandi

Jimmy Tatro as Mandy Pandy

• Chris Miller
• Michael Bacall

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