Mark Schierbecker
Staff Writer
“21 Jump Street”, a modernized continuation of the TV series of the same name that ran from 1987-’91, is comedy genius Jonah Hill’s latest movie.
Since losing 40 pounds over the summer, Hill has been working in overdrive filming for his next three movies. Twenty eight-year-old Hill is leaner and better than ever in “21 Jump Street.”
After nearly getting fired, officers Morton Schmidt (Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) are transferred to an undercover police unit at 21 Jump Street. There they are tasked with infiltrating and bringing down a drug ring distributing a new synthetic drug at a local high school.
Schmidt and Jenko are assigned new identities and live together under their assumed identities as brothers. Jenko tries to get in with the popular crowd but ironically ends up winning over the nerds in his physics class. Schmidt likewise tries the opposite but wins the trust of the popular teens including Eric, who deals the drug.
The hunt continues for Eric’s supplier which leads to one of the strangest car chases and subsequently one of the strangest limo chases in movie history.
The film may not be one of the more delicately directed movies of 2012, but for those looking to supplement the disappointing failure of “Project X,” “21 Jump Street” delivers just the right punches.
