Film Review: 21 Jump Street

I've made it to late March and 21 Jump Street has to be first remake/adaptation of 2012 that I've watched. Shocking, isn't it? With the endless foreign film/comic/book adaptations that pollute Hollywood these days, you really have to count yourself lucky if you manage to catch something that's original and good, as opposed to re-makes - which tend to be regurgitated crap (and usually have nothing on the original). 21 Jump Street seems to have bypassed this rule.

The film centres around two cops, once polar opposites back in their school days but are now thick as thieves today. Problem is they have a hard time properly busting thieves along with all the other bad guys. As a result of their combined incompetence, they're sent to take part in the 21 Jump Street program - going undercover as school students to bust the supply system of a new drug that is blighting local schools.

A verbal gaffe in the principal's office results in them adopting the wrong undercover identities. Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill), the awkward outcast as a teen, is now supposed to be the cool kid. Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum), the former prom king, is now the unlikely science geek (much to his chemistry teacher's delight).

The reboot of the Police Academy franchise looks promising...

I don't imagine Hill being particularly popular at school (therefore embracing the cool kid life with arms wide open) nor do I imagine Tatum being anything but the school jock at his (hence his frustration at actually having to concentrate in class seems genuine) . It doesn't matter though because the chemistry between the two is what makes this film tick. I lamented in my review of This Means War that Chris Pine and Tom Hardy make and unlikely pair. In 21 Jump Street, Hill and Tatum are effortlessly the dynamic duo.

I do worry for Dave Franco however. Not only does he have older brother James to contend with for film roles, but it seems that already he's being typecast as the high school twat (played one in Fright Night). Maybe being a douche just comes easy to the Franco boys?

Toilet humour is abound in this film (one scene does indeed feature an actual toilet!). The film tag line itself is "The only thing getting blown tonight is their cover". Smooth. Yet the depraved humour that runs predominately throughout is the film is what makes it such a hit. I almost had tears coming out of my eyes when the undercover brothers take the drug in question, resulting in undeniably hilarious consequences.

I've not seen the original mostly because I'm currently on the right side of 30. So I can't compare. Even if I had though, I wouldn't. This is a film that represents the current generation living the social networking era, where trends last as long as Kim Kardashian's marriage. Whilst the trends of today might alieniate the majority of the population, this is a film that all of mankind can relate to - old and new.

Film Review: Haywire

A fast paced action filmed topped with the typical slickness that usually comes with Steven Soderbergh's films is kind of what I was expecting when I saw Haywire a few weeks back. Sadly that's not what I got. You look at this film and the cast line-up should have your mouth watering with all the fine actors (bar Channing Tatum, god knows how he got his foot in Hollywood but I would appreciate it if he would forever remove it from the industry). But I actually left the film hungry for more action.

This is the film debut of Gina Carano, a fantastic mixed-martial art's fighter from Strikeforce (the top womens MMA promotion in the US). Now I know this lady isn't a classically trained actress but she has the fighting background that should have us convinced that she's the real deal. All to often I see action films that have waifs unconvincingly trying to pull off some hard hitting fight scenes (think of a very petite Zoe Saldana fighting the bulky Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the film The Losers). So it was a breath of fresh air to see Carano cast as the former marine turned mercenary for hire. Her MMA background was perfect for this role. And it showed.

There are no over-the-top back flips or a heavy reliance on weaponry in this film. Nor is there a trace of pointless CGI and wire-work. Instead you see Carano pull of fluid arm bars, stunning chokes and terrific wall jumps with finesse that only a former middleweight champion would possess.

However I start to wonder if Soderbergh could've have just hired any other female MMA fighter for the role as her fighting may very well be top notch, but her acting not so much. You see there is no stunt so real, no storyline so gripping that can mask acting so bad. And Carano's was so lacking that I kinda yearned for the waifs that I had earlier laughed off as unconvincing.

Gina Carano attempts to get a refund from Ewan McGregor for paying to see Star Wars II: Attack of The Clones

I will never really know how bad Carano's acting is because Soderbergh cleverly (or not-so in this case) tried to cover the tracks. Firstly he edited her voice. Carano has admitted her voice was altered so that the audience would differentiate her from her character. Stop me if I'm wrong but isn't that the whole point of acting, to convince someone wholeheartedly that the character you're personifying is anyone but you in reality? It seemed like a waste of his time given that Carano doesn't actually do much talking. Indeed she spends a large portion fighting but there was a seemingly endless chase scene that possibly went on for ten minutes. Then there was the the moment she took five minutes to reverse a car. Oh and jumping across buildings took another 10 minutes or so.

Normally I wouldn't complain about such time-wasting scenes but you must take into account that the film is 93 minutes long, so those scenes were dragged out for almost a third of the movie!

Aside from Carano's thespian efforts, this wasn't a bad film. Actually if Soderbergh had cast a different female lead (and possibly worked on a better script) I'm sure this could've been a lot better. The male ensemble really hold together the rest of the film. The parts set in Ireland were probably the best and I put that down to rising actor Michael Fassbender. It seems the man can't really do any wrong at the moment. The hotel fight scene that features in the trailer is the best and only because I was convinced that Fassbender really was going to come up trumps in the end. It also made the fight scene with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr & Mrs. Smith look very amateurish in comparison!

Directing wise, this reeks of Soderbergh. I don't mind films that are made be a director with a typical visual style. But the Ocean's Eleven style music really didn't fit in with this type of action thriller.

It's not the worst film out there but it's certainly not great. I would certainly like to see more female action heroes in the style of Carano, just not with her acting ability. But don't tell her I said that - I've seen how she takes down those that oppose her!