Film Review: 21 Jump Street (2012)

On first glance at the 'red band' trailer for 21 Jump Street, it appeared to be a collection of people who had just discovered how to swear, and my interest in it wasn't particularly high. But faced with a choice between it and the average looking John Carter, I decided to give it a go, and was rewarded highly for the choice.

Based on the 80's teen drama that is best known for launching the career of Johnny Depp, 21 Jump Street is the story of two immature cops, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) who are re-assigned to a special police department that goes undercover at High Schools. Schimdt and Jenko must re-immerse themselves into that teenage world to bring down a drug ring.

But as the mission continues Schmidt and Jenko become subject to a bit of role reversal since their high school days, with one-time jock Jenko becoming an unpopular nerd, whilst Schimdt becomes a cool 'kid', but will this hamper their mission?

Whilst the TV show was more of a drama, the rebooted movie plays it for (very immature, mostly) laughs. But at the same time it's a very knowing pastiche of 80's buddy action movies. And as well as that, it manages to have some heart too. For those three things to come together so well is impressive indeed.

Whilst Jonah Hill is funny as ever, the real surprise is how well he and Channing Tatum gel together as the leads, and even more so how hilarious Tatum actually is! Not really known for his comedic roles, but you wouldn't know it watching this. Also worth looking for is Chris Parnell (30 Rock's Dr. Spaceman) as a drama teacher, who pretty much is his character from 30 Rock, some great ad-libbing (I assume!) on display.

The quality of the film shouldn't have been too surprising really, considering the script was written by Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim), and the film was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs), and both of these films were fantastic,.

The humour is pretty juvenile throughout, and it's extremely potty-mouthed, but some of the best jokes come from the situations you always see in buddy cop movies, the angry captain (played here by Ice Cube), the entire reinstatement of the department at Jump Street is treated like a movie remake to great effect in one scene, and an excellent gag in the middle of a car chase about pointless explosions is pitch perfect.

While the film never feels like it drags, there are a few moments where you realise it has been on for quite a while, and that really is the closest to negativity I can say about it. 21 Jump Street really was one of those films that was just so enjoyable, and made even more so when I didn't think it was going to be. A thoroughly pleasant surprise.

 ****
It may be a million miles away from the TV show, but 21 Jump Street is easily the funniest film of the year so far, and just a totally unexpected treat. Highly recommended.

Housecast Podcast Episode Two: World's Greatest Dad

Film Review: The Woman in Black

Like last years Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Woman in Black is one of those films that the entire country seems to flock to see, even if they don't visit the cinema that often. While TTSS made no attempt to soften its story for the mainstream (hence the cries of boredom, and the record number of walkouts when I saw it), The Woman in Black is perfect for people not really used to going to see a horror film on the big screen.

Obviously, the man draw of the film is Daniel Radcliffe in his first major role after the conclusion of the Harry Potter films, but don't let the 12A certificate fool you (more on that later), this is a horror film, and not the faint of heart at times.

Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps, a young, recently widowed lawyer, who is dispatched to a sleepy village to settle the estate of a family steeped in tragedy. The ghost of a woman scorned by the family continues to haunt the village, and soon after his arrival, Arthur himself.

There's nothing especially wrong with The Woman in Black, it's well shot, well acted (after the first few minutes you forget about Radcliffe's iconic wizard role) and provides a good amount of tension and scares. But, if you're a fan of horror there is absolutely nothing here you haven't seen before.

Which is why people that don't regularly go to the cinema are getting so scared by it, if you don't normally go and watch a horror film, The Woman in Black is probably going to be the most frightening thing you will ever see, so in that respect the film works. Although, that was probably not its intention.

As the film was bound to be popular with a younger 'post-Potter' audience, 6 seconds were cut from the film so it could be certified a 12A rather than a 15 in this country, and while a bit of a fuss has been kicked up about whether it should have been a 12A, I think it would probably have had to have been one of the mildest 15 ratings in history. It is a bit much for a 12 year old kid, but the 15 rating would have probably been too high. Again, this is from a reviewer who has seen all the scares the film provided before, though.

Unsure what happened in the 6 missing seconds, but maybe we shall find out when it gets a Blu-Ray/DVD release, unless they really want to make a bit more out of it.

As a side note, it was nice to see a film bear the Hammer logo at the start. The company have been back a few years now, but this must be their biggest hit since returning. Hope they can bring more horror films to the mainstream, but hopefully ones that are slightly more original than this.

***

While there is nothing fundamentally wrong with The Woman in Black, horror fans would have seen it all before. But for a mainstream audience that don't visit the cinema much, it's full of jumps and scares.

Film Review: Real Steel

On first glance, Real Steel could be easily dismissed as 'Rocky meets Transformers', and while it certainly has a lot of elements of Rocky in, its only connection to Transformers is that it is A, about robots, and B, a film. In fact, it's another Stallone drama that Real Steel also has a lot in common with, and it makes for a fairly enjoyable ride throughout.

The year is 2020, and robot boxing is one of America's most popular sports. Deadbeat fight promoter Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) ends up saddled with a son, Max (Dakota Goyo) that he's never properly connected with over the Summer while he tries to find a new robot contender. After Max finds a discarded robot in a scrap yard, it becomes clear that the 'bot has got what it takes...

It's all watchable enough. But it's not the most original story ever, even if it does boast boxing robots. The underdog unexpectedly rising through the ranks towards a battle with the champion is pretty much the plot of the first Rocky film. Hell, the champion robot is called Zeus! (which must be a reference to Apollo Creed, another Greek God named fighter)

And the Father-Son bonding over competitive sports as they travel the country is also the plot from another Stallone movie, Over The Top (which featured arm wrestling as the sport of choice), even down to the bratty kid warming to the Father even when relatives take him away.

But other than that, it's a pretty fun film. Jackman is likable as always, even when his character is pretty much selling his son so he can buy a robot, and there is good support from Evangeline Lilly as Bailey, Max's on/off girlfriend. And even the kid isn't too annoying.

At the end of the day, this films target audience is probably kids and teenagers who haven't even heard of Rocky or Over The Top, but really dug seeing massive robots fight in Transformers. So for that reason, and the fact you actually see the robots fight without cutting back constantly to useless humans, I think we can let the slight plagiarism slide.

***
If you've seen Rocky or Over The Top, and can imagine robots clashing instead of humans, you've seen this film. But it's charming enough, and ideal for youngsters who don't know anything about Stallone!

Housecast Podcast Episode One: Shark Night

Film Review: Tower Heist

It's been a hideous 12 years, watching Eddie Murphy lurch from one terrible project to another. After 1999's Bowfinger, Murphy seemingly wanted to make the most offensively piss-poor cinema possible, and eradicate any memories of films like 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places.

In the space of 12 years, he committed the following celluloid crimes - Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (at least the first one had a few amusing moments), Dr. Dolittle 2, Pluto Nash, I Spy, Daddy Day Care, The Haunted Mansion, Norbit (possibly one of the worst films I've ever seen, and definitely the nadir of Murphy's career), Meet Dave and Imagine That. He did bag critical acclaim for a supporting role in Dreamgirls, but that's kind of like finding a quid after you stick your hand in a pile of manure.

Meanwhile Brett Ratner spent the last few years getting ideas above his station. Best suited to easy to watch stuff like Rush Hour and The Family Man (a film I really dig, when every bone in body tells me not to), he had no business going near the likes of X-Men: The Last Stand (Notice after this disaster, there has still yet to be a straight sequel) or Red Dragon (a film that dared to remake Manhunter, the cast was there, the correct director was not.)

These two wayward careers combine in Tower Heist, which is exactly the kind of stuff both men need to be doing. Frivolous, throwaway fun with more adult jokes and language. Hell, I've been waiting over a decade for Eddie Murphy to swear again...

Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) manages an apartment complex in New York, where only the wealthiest live. When he discovers that a financier, Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), who lives in the buildings penthouse, has perpetrated a pension scam that has robbed most of the employees of the complex of their money, Kovacs hatches a plan to rob Shaw's safe, enlisting the help of his robber neighbour Slide (Murphy.)

Tower Heist isn't a particularly challenging film, but assembles a good cast (Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Judd Hirsch, Tea Leoni, and Michael Pena also star) and kept my interest throughout. There's no spectacularly funny moment, or a wham-bam set piece, but it's an amusing, watchable action/comedy.

Ratner is so much better suited to this kind of thing, and it's an actual joy to watch Murphy reel off his fast-talking rants that are so reminiscent of his 80's and early 90's work. After years of dreadful kids films, it's brilliant just to see the guy curse again!

There's really not a great deal to say about Tower Heist. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but it's entertaining while it's on, and amuses throughout. It's more interesting for returning two people to the sort of work they should have been doing all along. Let's just hope they don't drift away again.

***
Fun while it's on, but nothing more. Good to see Brett Ratner direct something more suited to his talents, and brilliant to see Eddie Murphy do something a little more grown up. Worth a rent.

Film Review: Street Trash

A step up in terms of production value and effects, and an even smaller step up from acting and plot than the likes of Troma's The Toxic Avenger and The Class Of Nuke 'Em High, was Street Trash. But whilst it had these advantages over the Troma films, it's still not as widely known as they are.

Upon finding a case of mysterious alcohol called 'Viper' in his cellar, a liquor store owner decides to sell it to the local homeless community for a dollar a bottle, unaware that something has happened to the substance over time, causing whoever drinks it to melt. Two homeless brothers are involved, and they cross paths with an angry hobo Vietnam vet, who is slightly unhinged to put it mildly, and the owner of the junkyard that all the local homeless seem to live in.

Street Trash starts strong, with a stunning set piece where a hobo, having consumed some 'Viper', sits down on a toilet and melts into it, and continues the body count until it just drifts onto the conflict with Bronson (Vic Noto), the 'Nam veteran who acts like a hobo king (he even has a throne in a tyre pile!)

As we drift away, we encounter the brothers, Fred and Kevin, and their respective encounters with women, and their troubles with Bronson. We also meet a cop (handily called Bill the Cop) who is investigating the presence of the mob, and the strange melting deaths. Yep, there's also a mobster, Nick Duran (Tony Darrow) , whose subplot seems pretty unconnected to the main story.

It just seems like the film forgets what it's about for a while in the middle. Yeah, I know it's not like I'm reviewing The Godfather, and films like this are never meant to make a whole lot of sense, but I had almost forgotten about 'Viper' till it comes back into play in the last act. Although, anyone would forget about the story, when the film stops for an extended sequence involving a hobo having his penis cut off, then thrown about from person to person in a bizarre game of catch!

But when the film enters that last act, it takes a massive step up, and the melting death scenes (which, after all, is why we are all here) are nothing short of superb, and still look good today.

As Street Trash is a DVD release from Arrow, you get all the usual bells and whistles on it, the reversible sleeve, the booklet, the poster, but on the second disc you have a fantastic documentary called The Meltdown Memoirs, lasting 2 hours that tells the story of how the film was made, but in a diary retelling style format.

The documentary is made by Street Trash's writer and producer Roy Frumkes, and goes into great detail about every facet of the films production, and shows us what a lot of the cast are doing now, and some of them are absolute lunatics. Vic Noto seems legitimately insane, Bill the Cop (Bill Chepil) seems like a total oddball too. Even Bryan Singer (yes, that Bryan Singer), who was a production assistant on the film, turns up to tell some classic anecdotes about the making of the movie.

A particularly interesting revelation in the documentary is that director Jim Muro really doesn't like the film or it's over creators much, but he still appears to talk about it! The Meltdown Memoirs is worth the price of the DVD on it's own.

Street Trash is a great gore packed film, that has such great effects, it lets itself down slightly when things get silly. It's fine when Troma do it, everything looks cheap on their films, but it just distracted from the progress of the film here. Stunning finale, though.

***
Top notch gore action, let down by a silly, but not un-watchable, middle section. And the documentary, The Meltdown Memoirs, would get 4 stars. Hunt out the DVD today!