In the late 80s and early 90s 21 Jump Street was the TV series that introduced Johnny Depp to the world. Now it’s about to get a film based reboot and from the look of the trailer it could be alright.
The 21 Jump Street film continues with the same concept as the original TV series, taking young looking cops and putting them undercover in a problem school on 21 Jump Street. The cops in question on the film are played by Jonah Hill of Super Bad fame and Channing Tatum (no relation to Drederick, although he’s nearly as big as him), who was the tough, but sensitive dancer in Step Up (insert slight distain at will).
Useless at normal policing they’re randomly given the job as a special assignment because of their boyish looks (Tatum’s are debatable) and sent into 21 Jump Street to bust a school yard drugs ring. However, their general ineptitude kicks in and mayhem looks like it’s on the cards for the majority of the film.
Jonah Hill looks like he’s been spending a lot of time with Mr. Atkinson, because he is thin, plus he got a hair cut. While this makes him a little less funny than he used to be, in a weird sort of way, it’s doesn’t strip him of all his comedy powers.
With Ice Cube as their captain and a cameo from Depp, the 21 Jump Street film has got the makings of a quasi-funny comedy, action, high-school movie type thing. It’s released in the UK on the 16th March 2012. Jonah Hill has got one half of the writing credits along with Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), so there’s obvious parallels with Super Bad, but it still looks like an OK reworking of the slightly cheesy original.
