21 Jump Street stars a newly slimmed down Jonah Hill (The Sitter) as Schmidt, a guy who struck out as a total nerd in high school and who was tortured daily by Jenko (Channing Tatum), but who has found his own as a bad-ass police officer. Ok, that's not true. He's a park-patrolling cop on a bike who, together with his now-partner and friend, Jenko, doesn’t see much action. When they make a drug bust in the park, they are elated, until they realize the bust is no good because they didn't mirandize the perps. Before they know it, they are busted down to 21 Jump Street, mostly because they look young.
Captain Dickson (Ice Cube, Are We There Yet?) runs a tough department and expects Schmidt and Jenko to go into Sagan High School as brothers Doug and Brad to infiltrate the drug dealers and find out who is distributing a dangerous new synthetic drug at the school called HFS (Holy *** ***, you get the idea). When the guys forget who is who and accidentally swap identities, Doug (Hill) becomes the cool kid and Brad (Tatum) has to become the nerd.
As the guys re-experience high school, hopefully having learned something from their earlier stint, they learn a lot about themselves and how things have changed since they last sat in the desks. Doug starts to fall for fellow student Molly (Brie Larson) and finds himself trying to impress Eric (Dave Franco), the school's drug dealer, while Brad learns to appreciate the nerds and even takes his scientific knowledge to new levels. Along the way, they will encounter such crazy characters as chemistry teacher Ms. Griggs (Ellie Kemper, Bridesmaids) and gym coach Mr. Walters (Rob Riggle, Step Brothers). Things come to an explosive head when the pair finally get to meet the supplier and have to tangle with the drug dealers they met at the beginning.
21 Jump Street is a hysterical roller coaster ride of teenage comedy. I laughed all the way through. Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller of Clone High fame, you can bet that these guys know the dangerous minefields of comedic high school and it is on full display here. There are tons of special features as well including a slew of hilarious deleted scenes, a gag reel, commentary with the directors, Hill and Channing, plus comedic featurettes on Rob Riggle, Johnny Depp, Ice Cube and three on the adventures Hill and Channing had while filming. While commentary is typically not my thing, the commentary with these four is so funny it easily makes the movie worth another watch just to listen to it. All of the special features are a treat, though.
21 Jump Street is just hilarious. While it's not for the young ones because of sexual situations and rampant drug use, it's awesome grown-up fun. It looks great on Blu-ray, but it is especially noticeable during the bright and colorful drug tripping intros. Grab a bag of popcorn and strap in for a crazy, funny adventure. Highly recommended.
