21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street wins the award for Surprise Comedy Hit of the Year and holds its own against previous winners, such as Bridesmaids, The Hangover and even Anchorman.

Based on an eighties TV show starring Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise, the concept was always going to be a sure-fire hit for comedy. Two high school kids - Jonah Hill's Schmidt (a geek) and Channing Tatum's Jenko (a jock) - leave school and join the local police academy where they form an unlikely friendship and ultimately become partners. In an inevitable twist, they are sent back to high school as undercover agents to bring down a drug ring. Instead, both use this as an opportunity to reinvent themselves and re-live their failed high school years.

It is obvious why screenwriters Jonah Hill and Michael Bacall chose 21 Jump Street for a feature-film revival. The high-concept combines all the best bits of two of comedy's greatest sub-genres: the Buddy Cop Comedy (read more about that here) and the High-School Comedy. This means you get hilariously-mismatched partners, back-and-forth-banter, guns and chase scenes but this runs alongside cliques, inappropriate teachers, house parties, a school play and the standard climatic prom scene. It is a non-stop, seamless blend of brilliant comedic motifs from both sub-genres and one of the most inspired genre mash-ups to hit the cinemas in recent years.

As with all good comedies, the gags come at you in all shapes and sizes. You therefore get slapstick (Schmidt getting hit by a car), gross-out humour (Schmidt and Jenko trying to gag each other), super gross-out humour (a character picking up his dismembered penis with his mouth), nonsense (Schmidt praying to Korean Jesus), lots of swearing (courtesy of Ice Cube), visual gags (baby photos of Schmidt looking like Jay Leno), in-jokes (Nick Offerman's police detective commenting on the tedious revival of another eighties 'police operation'), inverted genre motifs (fuel trucks not exploding during a high-speed chase), stoner comedy (a tripping-out montage) and a heavy dose of guy-love throughout. 


Reading that back, the gags clearly favour low-brow, base humour but that is no bad thing. After all, who doesn't love Road Trip?

Naturally, this being a comedy, not all of the jokes land. But this sort of chaotic, semi-improvised comedy is always going to be an exercise in hit-and-miss. Most of these misses come courtesy of the supporting cast, comprised of the usual bunch of recognisable C-listers who always appear in this type of comedy: Rob Riggle, Ellie Kemper and Chris Parnell. But thankfully, with such a high gag rate and quick pace, the misses are soon forgotten and another belly-laugh is only ever seconds away.

This is the first live-action feature film for directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (they previously only directed Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs) but they appear at ease with comedy. They use the opportunity provided by Hill's story-light script to throw in as many random sketches as possible, particularly the brilliant YouTube summary of what happens if you take drugs. There is also a bizarre animated sequence featuring an ice-cream cone face.

Although, their real skill as directors might just be assembling some great actors and giving them free reign to be funny. Ice Cube seems to be having lots of fun living up to the angry black police chief stereotype, whilst Dave Franco (James' little brother) has graduated from the short-lived ninth series of Scrubs and is making the most of the big screen. He is suitably annoying - and hilarious - as the 'cool kid' douchebag who cares about the environment but also deals drugs.

However, the stand-out by far is Channing Tatum. Put simply, Tatum is a revelation.

After a string of awful films that have given him nothing to do but pose and take himself too seriously (G.I. Joe, Step Up, She's The Man, Dear John), it is good to see him enjoying himself in front of the camera. It appears that Tatum has finally found his calling: comedy. 

Tatum is utterly hilarious as Jenko, the lovable dumb jock. He throws himself into the role, both shredding his handsome leading man image and possibly losing his female fan base in the first ten minutes alone. As a result, Tatum gets all of the big laughs but also carries all of the heartfelt moments, such as when Jenko loses his best friend to the cool clique. And fair play to Hill, who is equally hilarious but happy to step back and let Tatum steal scene after scene. Let's hope we see more of Tatum is these types of roles.

The bad news is that the final fifteen minutes are a bit of a drag: too many bullets, not enough jokes. Comedies should keep the story nonsensical to avoid putting the comedy on hold whilst plot strands are wrapped-up at the end. Anchorman's zoo finale is still the best example of how to finish a comedy. But this is nit-picking and at least some great cameos from the original TV series make the bullet-fest a little more bearable.

In short, 21 Jump Street is that rare experience: a comedy worth going to the cinema for. 

Even more rare, it leaves you wanting more. Luckily for cinema-goers, the sequel has already been green-lit (22 Jump Street?) which means the pre-credits cliffhanger was more than just a tease. Looks like the boys are going to college. And with more of the Hill-Tatum double-act guaranteed, we're sure to be going with them.

★★★★