Movie Review: 21 Jump Street (2012)
In the late 2000s, a new trend would dominate the vision boards of Hollywood executives: Eighties reboot movies. Why make something unique when you can just re-do something old? Everything had to be rebooted: Robocop, Footloose, Hairspray, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Conan the Barbarian, and much more. Hollywood execs were throwing darts at a board and seeing what stuck. Of course, this all had to do with money.
Why hire people to create new stories when you can repurpose old ones? Just advertise off of pure nostalgia and watch the box office numbers increase. It was almost to the point where Hollywood would reboot anything; including the police crime drama, 21 Jump Street. Oh, and they made it an R-rated comedy too with Superbad actor Jonah Hill and… Channing Tatum? Oh no, this sounds horrible.
21 Jump Street, then and now.
The studio hired Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to direct it. These names may ring a bell if you’ve heard of their other works. They were the creators of Clone High, directors and writers for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The Lego Movie, and producers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The writer, Michael Bacall, previously wrote for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Project X. The premise is still remarkably stupid, but at least there is genuine talent onboard.
Maybe it’ll just end up being a casual action-comedy with a bunch of childish adult humor and get a few chuckles. Something people will watch and then soon forget about. However, Lord and Miller would not let this opportunity go to waste, even if said opportunity seemed doomed to mediocrity. Somehow they managed to hit a jackpot. During the film itself, Ice Cube—yes, that Ice Cube—playing cop captain Dickson said it best: “Embrace your stereotypes.”
Maybe the movie is more than just a cheesy reboot.
This film is completely aware of what it is and takes it in grace. On the surface, the narrative is incredibly generic and dumb. It follows cops Schmidt and Jenko, played by Hill and Tatum respectively, whose dreams of high-profile crime busts have fallen flat. After failing to read a suspect their full Miranda Rights—a slight jab at cop shows that only ever say the first part—their unassuming and dim-witted qualities land them in the 21 Jump Street program where they go undercover to stop the spread of a soon to be viral drug. The two receive cover identities that match their stereotypes. Schmidt, both hard-working and equally awkward, is enrolled in academically rigorous courses; Jenko gets all the blow-off classes and is on the track team. Seems to make sense, but in reality, not everything is as black and white as it looks. It’s not just another high school drama with nerds, jocks, and crushes.
The second our duo reaches high school it’s not at all what every high school drama makes it out to be. The popular kids of this school are, in the words of Jenko, “crunchy granola dudes who have convinced everyone they’re cool. It’s backwards and insane.” To add confusion, Schmidt and Jenko accidentally swap their identities. Both are put into roles they don’t naturally fit. The script of the traditional high school drama is flipped. The nerd and jock are in the wrong places. The film becomes a dual fish out of water story. Schmidt must overcome his social anxiety to mesh with the popular kids, while Jenko gives the nerds a chance. Soon, the duo begin to change and even come into conflict. Jenko becomes more set on the mission than ever. Schmidt becomes drawn into this high school fantasy; it's a second chance to re-do his life. He even begins to apply to colleges. He’s in too deep.
The film is also acutely aware of its strangeness. In a self-referential moment, one character says, “the guys in charge of this stuff lack creativity and are completely out of ideas, so all they do now is recycle old shit from the past as though we’re not going to notice.” Sound familiar? It does a lot of cliche action tropes: high-speed chases, explosions, and montages to name a few. Yet, the film still aims to subvert expectations along the way. Small comedic twists are put on otherwise run-of-the-mill scenes.
If there’s a scene where they chase bikers down a highway, why not put Jonah Hill in a Peter Pan outfit?
The film takes full advantage of this unique scenario in a way most people could not have even thought of. The script is filled with small little jokes that I overlooked until a second viewing. Everyone was trying their best here. Hill and Tatum have surprisingly good chemistry and bring their characters to life. Twenty One Jump Street is by no means flawless; the script and acting are what carry the film. Its cinematography, editing, and other technical features are nothing to write home about. These things don’t take away from the film’s quality; rather, they are just incredibly average relative to its better elements. The production crew did their job and nothing more.
The third act of this film does drag on at the end. It becomes a long-winded action sequence that, while creative on paper, could have been shortened. The movie lacks the budget to do much with the final chase sequence. Despite these criticisms, Lord and Miller made something special with the odds truly stacked against them. It’s a fun and, at times, clever film that’s much more than meets the eye. It’s not arthouse cinema, but it’s smart about being dumb. If you think this movie looks generic or just another 80s reboot, give it a chance and maybe you’ll learn to love it like I did.
