Movie Review: 21 Jump Street

Every year, you will get at least one comedy that will be remembered for years to come. 2009 had The Hangover, 2010 had Hot Tub Time Machine, 2011 had Horrible Bosses, and this year has already it's lead contender for comedy of the year, 21 Jump Street.

21 Jump Street is completely and totally hilarious. I was laughing my ass off from start to finish. I haven't laughed this often or hard at a comedy since The Hangover. The biggest reason this film is such a success is it's two lead actors. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum have an outstanding chemistry with one another and provide equal big laughs. Clearly Hill has proved time and time again he is a great comedic actor starring in some of the best comedies of the past decade, so his strong performance here is what we've come to expect from someone with his immense comedic talent. Tatum, on the other hand, is the real surprise of this movie. He hasn't really done comedy before and he shines in this role. When you're just as good as a comedy veteran in Hill, it says a lot for Tatum has a comedic actor.

It's not just Hill and Tatum that provide strong turns here, the supporting cast is excellent as well. The strongest performance of the supporting cast comes from Ice Cube as the pissed-off police captain who is in charge of Hill and Tatum's characters. Ice Cube has not been this good since the original Friday. He zips off brilliant one-liners with a straight face and angry tone every time he appears on screen. His character is responsible for some of the best lines of the whole movie. Ice Cube isn't alone when it comes to great supporting performances in this film. Other more bit parts including Chris Parnell as the eccentric drama teacher that likes telling various anecdotes about his failed acting career, Rob Riggle as the moronic, immature gym teacher, and Ellie Kemper as the teacher who is extremely sexually attracted to Tatum's character all deliver major laughs in their limited screen time. Even though they are all minor characters, they still provide the film with quite a few of it's biggest laughs.

21 Jump Street is an amazing comedy. I could not stop laughing through the entire film. The entire cast is fantastic and this film proves how strong of a comedic actor Channing Tatum is (I hope he continues to do more comedies in the future, I think he has found his calling as an actor). The script from Micheal Bacall (who also co-wrote Project X) is extremely intelligent, fresh and utterly hysterical. I know it's early in the year and there is a lot of potential for great comedies all year long, but it's going to be an almost impossible task for any comedy in 2012 to be funnier than 21 Jump Street.

4.5/5 Stars