21 Jump
Street
(2012/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
Can a
remake of any kind of a semi-hit TV show that was not great, but had some
quality to it and helped launch a TV network (Fox in this case) really
work? That is the question with the new
2012 comic take on 21 Jump Street,
the series that also helped launch Johnny Depp’s career and became a
semi-iconic TV show from the TV wasteland that is the 1990s. The truly funny Jonah Hill co-produces,
co-writes and co-stars with Channing Tatum as two new cops who used to know and
dislike each other in high school.
After
their debut as badged officers is a dud, they land up in a revival of a program
where youngish-looking cops pretend to be teens, the Jump Street program and get assigned to
be pretend brothers trying to find a drug kingpin, ring and break it all
up. However, the script has several
agendas that have nothing to do with the storyline, including trashing
(sometimes cleverly) almost every feature film adaptation of a hit TV show ever
made, which is not hard considering this keeps happening.
However,
Hill and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim
Vs. The World) keep playing into the obvious and opposite directions that
all such formula package deals could go into and being gross, sexually
explicit, funny and even vulgar is one of the strategies they keep doing to
make this funny and entertaining.
However, it becomes too uneven and though I did laugh and smile more
than expected, including smarter-than-expected observations on how times have
changed, they cannot make this into the great comedy it had the potential of
being. I wonder if that is even possible
this could have been stronger considering their post-modern approach?
Adding to
this are co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, a rare team that
coheres helming a project as they proved with the underrated computer animated
hit Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
(which, like the 21 Jump Street
series, is reviewed more than once elsewhere on this site) and handle this well
enough to make it another big hit for themselves and part of that is they too
(like Hill) have a knack for comedy that seems all too rare these days.
Tatum
plays dumb well and the supporting cast (including a one-one-yelling Ice Cube,
Brie Larson and Dave Franco) all fit in nicely and the leads have true
chemistry. It is also fair to say this
is one of the few films involving this generation of actors that has any sensed
of an authentic feel. Too bad these guys
did not write Green Hornet.
Though
not great, this new 21 Jump Street
has just enough laughs and gags that make it worth a look. Just don’t expect much more, much like the
original show.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is basically a slightly
darkened HD shoot, but with some Super 35mm shooting where the Arri Alexa could
not delver, one that is consistent and looks just fine for what it is. This lets them get away with some generic
shooting and the Blu-ray is as true to the release as all the footage I have seen
of it. This is nothing great, but it is
at least professional. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is pretty good, but more than a few times, the
soundfield becomes monophonic in some of the dialogue scenes and sound comes
too much from the center channel and/or towards the front speakers. The combination is good, but not great, yet a
DVD could not deliver this as well.
Extras include
a Gag Reel, feature length audio commentary track by the co-directors &
co-stars, 20 Deleted Scenes including a few that should have stayed in and
featurettes Cube-O-Rama, Back To School, Brothers In Arms, Peter Pan
On Broadway, The Rob Riggle Show
& Johnny Depp On Set.
- Nicholas Sheffo
