The transfer from the small to the big screen is a tradition almost as boring as the remake or the sequel, and as with them, it has been made in recent years with a variable, but in most cases a negative, result. With the same success (even worse), American action comedies are emerging, and therefore most likely to "21 Jump Street" - a movie that collects the two in one - most people will approach a reserved, if they decide to give him any chance at all. And this is definitely going to be a mistake, as this is one of really fun and fresh comedy.
The story is as follows: Schmidt and Jenko are representatives of the two primordial, eternally warring American high school types - clogged zubers and popular but stupid sportsmen - who fall together in the police academy where circumstances and mutual benefit make them best friends. Soon the two found that work as a park-wagon patrol was not what they had dreamed of, and their inadequate attempt to make a large arrest sent them to 21 Jump Street, where they came under the cover of a young cop. Their new task is seemingly easy - to pretend to be high school students and to reveal the drug network that spreads a new, dangerous drug - only Schmidt and Jenko find that things at school are not as simple as they remember and that this time they will be far away more difficult to shake, especially since they are exchanging their new identities for fools.
At the synopsis level, the film is quite similar to its prototype - the 80th Street Police Drama Series "21 Jump Street" (now known mostly by turning Johnny Depp into a teen idol) - but the idea of policemen working undercover in schools , colleges and other places with predominantly youthful presence, is generally their only touch point. Because the film's authors have taken (I dare to say) a rather intelligent decision not to just make a gaming copy of the series but to take on their own, action-oriented, simple-comedic direction, simultaneously paying tribute to the teen-comedy genre and so- "Buddy cop" thrillers. This approach is in itself good, but as we have been persuading (in Starsky and Hutch, for example), that is not enough. One of the strongest aspects of "21 Jump Street" is that under all the stupid jokes, which among other things can come a little bit more to the more conservative audience and under all the beautifully performed, entertaining and self-aware genre, action, is the "true" story of Schmidt and Jenko, whose destiny we really care about. Their genuine, often soft relationships and problems are the bond that keeps the film from becoming another hollow parody or another "bromance".
This achievement is a result of Michael Bacol's screenplay and the directing of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who are the authors of the wonderful Cloud with Meatballs) as well as the performances of the actors and especially the main couple Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. And while Hill has repeatedly demonstrated his comedic talent (and his latest Oscar nomination and dramatic nomination), and his excellent handling of the role is no surprise, Tatum can not say the same. Not to believe a man, here he produces real acting talents (something we have not seen in any of his previous films) and his typical wooden and clumsy style fits perfectly to Jenko's role and the overall comedic rhythm of the film. It is definitely one of the big surprises. Of course,"21 Jump Street" has its own minuses that go hand in hand with the form and which do not need to be highlighted - fans of such films will not take them into consideration, but those who don't like this kind of comedies, they will be the smallest problem. Finally, I repeat that the plot and the trailers of the film do not portray it in its true light, and you have to give it a chance to make sure that under all the seemingly non-originals that emanate from the advertising campaign lies a really fresh and entertaining comedy.