21 Jump Street (2012)

There was something about the way the proposed "21 Jump Street" movie originated that seemed different than most "reboots," specifically the spearheading of it by Jonah Hill. Much in the same way Jason Segal took the reigns of the Muppet franchise, Hill's affection for the 1980's Johnny Depp-fueled FOX TV Cop drama is evident in the movie adaptation, which is in a lot of ways nothing like the original. For starters, it's a straight-up Comedy which actively satirizes the sillier aspects of the show, particularly the idea of grown men passing as high school students.

The early buzz on this movie was surprisingly positive. Everyone I knew who had seen it prior to me had told me that it was very funny. In some ways, I wish I would have not had my expectations raised by the hype. Not because it ruined my experience, but just because it would of made it even better.

The movie is very funny and really well done. The genre satire is effective, the subtle self-referential jokes worked, and even the action sequences are decent. Surprisingly, even Channing Tatum is good in the movie and he's been terrible in the last two things I've seen him in, "Haywire" and "SNL." The cameos are fun as well. The only thing I really didn't like about it was the horrible CGI. My biggest pet-peeve with CGI isn't just that it's horrible, but I really hate when it replaces things that really don't need to be CGI'ed, for example, exploding limos.