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.