21 Jump Street Review

Justin and I saw 21 Jump Street on March 17, 2012. This movie was awesome, entertaining, funny, and dramatic all at the same time!! It used to be a television show with Johnny Depp and Dustin Nguyen in the lead roles around the year 1987. It follows the lives of Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill), who are now on the police force. In high school, they were enemies, however, they are now friends teaching each other how to improve themselves in the area they are not as proficient in. It shows a flashback of when they were in high school with Jenko being the jock, but had no intelligence whatsoever. On the flipside, Schmidt was an academic, but was a nerd. MY TWO CENTS: I am more sympathetic to Schmidt as I tend to be more on the "nerd" side, however, I never really had a problem with the Jenkos of the world at all. Then again, I don't really look nerdy either. I am not the most suave or handsome guy, but I'm not the guy with the glasses with tape in the middle either. We get some great scenes showing how they get onto the police force with them helping each other through their weaknesses. I laughed when Jenko said YESSSSSSS!! I did it and they show his test and it says 71 C-. Justin loved that one too. They encounter a motorcycle gang that is heavy into dealing drugs and selling them. On the first attempt they try to take them down, one is released because Jenko doesn't know the Miranda rights, and Schmidt was knocked out by the force of the bigger guy charging into him. In order to deal with the drug problem, their superior tells them to report to a specific address (hence the name of the movie) and they are told they will go undercover to find out who suppliers are, what the drug is, and who is selling it. Ice Cube was absolutely hilarious in his role as Captain Dickson. I normally don't like him, but he was entertaining here. Jenko and Schmidt are given different identities in which they are brothers Doug and Brad. It's funny as they can't figure out which one is supposed to be which when the principal asks them. The principal looks alot like David Krumholtz (but it's not). What ensues is hilarity as they try to blend into the school population, but they both stick out especially Jenko. They get their schedules and its actually the opposite roles for each. Jenko goes in with the nerds and Schmidt is now one of the popular people. Classes such as AP Chemistry and Drama are included. I love how Peter Pan is the play that Schmidt is trying out for. There he encounters Molly (played by Brie Larson, who is actually involved to an extent with Eric played by Dave Franco-a major part of the plot/drug scene at the school). Now, for half the movie I was trying to figure out who Molly was. I had seen her before I knew, but it was bothering me where I saw her. Then it hit me. She was Envy Adams in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (possibly the most awesome movie ever made). Schmidt and Jenko are able to get a first hand look at the drugs as there is a number in the drama room that Molly points him towards. He and Jenko take it and then some of the funniest things happen as Jenko throws himself through a gong in the music room shouting TAKE THAT MILES DAVIS!!. Schmidt is high and nails his audition for Peter Pan. Schmidt and Jenko encounter Mr. Walters, the coach. He was played by Rob Riggle. He was great in the role and Justin and I feel he was one of the strongest parts of the movie. I had a feeling we'd be seeing him again as Riggle is a good character actor and I wanted to see what he would do here. Schmidt and Molly grow closer as Jenko forms a bond with the nerdy kids and he is able to create wiretaps with the phones to see what is going on with the sellers. I just have to say I love watching the relationship between Molly and Schmidt as there is genuine attraction there and it was a cute romantic story. The guy is not trying to get laid. Their bond is growing through conversation and discussion of things like comic books and things of that nature. The rest of the movie gets more serious as the motorcycle gang from the beginning is doing business with Eric. The operation is going strong. They just have to find the maker. After some great action sequences with car chases, Schmidt and Jenko get into an argument about how they're approaching the situation which briefly strains their friendship leading to a chaotic scene at the play. They are expelled, but they still find a way into the prom where the whole main operation is set to go down. I will not spoil the prom scene as it was my favorite one, but we find out how the drugs are getting moved around and the whole audience said OHHHH when they showed who it was. They also had an awesome cameo appearance that the whole audience including myself and Justin absolutely loved. It was great to see. The limo chase was amazing as the action was intense and personal issues factored in. Jenko and Schmidt had made up by this point after Jenko saved Schmidt from a bullet. A preceding piece of dialogue made this action have a stronger effect. Of course, they are able to stop the situation and it leads to a grisly ending for the maker and a scene that made everyone cringe and laugh at the same time. As I said, there was a great mix of everything in this movie. Each piece fit together and helped the movie to flow well. Genuinely funny dialogue, great plot, fun characters (I usually hate Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill-but it worked so well here), and good dramatic elements, with good twists thrown in. It's very rare that I will give a comedy a 5/5, but in this instance it more than deserves it. It definitely deserves the positive remarks it is getting.