22 Jump Street

Expectations:
To inform you of the obvious, comedy sequels rarely succeed. With that fact in front of you, it would be quite easy to condemn 22 Jump Street, well before the film's release. But, before you do that, ask yourself this question: "While watching 21 Jump Street, how much did I laugh?" Because the most common answer to that question is "a whole freakin lot," there may yet be hope for the sequel to the hit 2012 buddy comedy. There was never any doubt in my mind that 22 Jump Street would provide a multitude of hilarious moments, considering its predecessor took home my award for best comedy in 2012. However, from watching the trailer, I wasn't so sure that it would be able to live up to the sarcastic, ironic hilarity of the first film. Regardless, I was going to watch, and, regardless, I was going to laugh. The only question was how much...

Plot:
For anyone who missed out on the point of 21 Jump Street, the film's real purpose was to make light of the fact that turning a television show into a film is an absolutely horrible idea (it's only other purpose was making me laugh). In keeping with that theme, 22 Jump Street focused on yet another blatant sin that continues to be committed in Hollywood... the unnecessary sequel. In fact, 22 Jump did a better job than its predecessor of picking out film-flaws and making them hilarious. At the same time, the flow of the film made it feel a bit lengthy. For me, that is no problem, because I could watch these guys 24/7 and still want more, but, for an average viewer, there may be a moment or two where you feel as if the story will never wrap up. Thankfully, there is plenty of laughter to be found throughout the film, including an amazing scene centered around Ice Cube's Captain Dickson and Jonah Hill's Schmidt that is sure to have you rolling for at least ten minutes. Although I will avoid spoilers, that scene was undoubtedly my favorite from either film, and I kind of want to go watch 22 Jump Street again, this week, just to see that one scene!

Characters:
In addition to 21 Jump Street taking home my prize for top comedy, in 2012, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum shared my prize for top male comedic performance. Considering how much I loved their performances, I expected great things from both of them in the sequel. Fortunately, they did not disappoint!

Negatives:
Peter Stormare's Ghost was an extremely forced element of the 22 Jump Street investigative puzzle, and, whilst being forced into the plot, he never really provided any laughs whatsoever. My opinion of this character may be solely a result of how hilarious the other characters managed to be, but, either way, I did not care for the scenes in which he was a big player.

Positives:
Once again, my main man (and probably my favorite actor), Jonah Hill, was able to come up big in his hilarious role as Schmidt. His performance, alongside that of Ice Cube, really made 22 Jump Street work. I don't know why, but anything that Hill touches just seems to turn to gold before my eyes. That said, Channing Tatum's Jenko really seemed to take the backseat to Hill's Schmidt in the overarching storyline. Maybe I didn't enjoy Tatum's performance, because he was removed from Hill a good bit, but, regardless, he just didn't shine as bright as he did in 21 Jump. Don't get me wrong... he was great. Just not quite as great as he was in the first film.

Conclusion:
Considering that most comedy sequels are doomed from the get-go, 22 Jump Street deserves like 20 awards for not sucking! I know for a fact that I do not have the creative capability to come up with some of the clever hilarity that these guys were able to manifest. Kudos to the cast, directors, writers, and anyone else involved in the creation of such a great masterpiece. Both 21 and 22 Jump Street will remain on my re-watch list for many, many years to come, and I really hope we get 72 Jump Street in 50 years or so. I'm thinking it will work well alongside The Expendables 50! I give 22 Jump Street 4.20 out of 5 stars.

Side Effects

Expectations:
After seeing so many amazing films in December and January, it was hard for me to get excited about watching a "regular" movie. However, I missed the theater, because it's like a second home for me and all. I have seen the trailer for Identity Thief at least 300 times, so I decided to skip out on the big moneymaker this weekend. The trailer for Side Effects was a bit vague, which always intrigues me. Also, this is director Steven Soderbergh's final film, as he plans to retire from directing. This mind brought us many great films, such as the Ocean's trilogy, Magic Mike, and Erin Brockovich, so it is worth noting. While my expectations were not very high, I was hopeful that my 2013 movie-watching calendar would get off to a great start...

Plot:
The depth of the Side Effects plot was very surprising, and, towards the end of the film, I think everyone in the theater was a little confused about how many different elements were crashing down on one another. The various twists and turns were not complicated, but the explanation of those twists was not at all clear, making it a little hard to follow. However, it was quite interesting, and the addition of an insider trading incident enticed the business part of my brain. The best part was how long the drama was held out. Normally, the twists and turns all happen at the end of the film, but that was not the case with Side Effects. Instead, the twists kept rolling through the entire second half of the film, which I enjoyed.

Characters:
Unfortunately, the Side Effects characters didn't quite live up to the story in which they were placed. I am a fan of each and every actor that starred in a major role (except maybe Zeta), but they just weren't as good as they could have been.

Negatives:
This reference may be overkill by now, but I loved Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street. Hopefully, he will begin to choose his roles more wisely and stay with roles similar to his Jump Street character, because he certainly can't play a Wall Street guy. His role of Martin Taylor, husband to Rooney Mara's Emily, was very dull and undoubtedly the worst of the film. Also, Laila Robins, who played the partner of Jude Law's Dr. Banks, could have been the worst actress I have ever seen in my life. I don't know how someone that old could possibly have stayed in the business for so long, but it was just plain awful.

Positives:
Rooney Mara was able to channel her inner Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for her role as depressed wifey Emily Taylor. The character was not anywhere near as intense as ol Lisbeth, but her attitudes were similarly depressing and sad to look at. She did a great job, but I would really like to see her play a different character in her next role. Maybe she could even smile! As Dr. Banks, a psychiatrist with patient problems, Jude Law was as good as ever. For some reason, he comes off to me as a very genuine guy, which is good in a film where you are the supposed good guy. I will not tell you what becomes of Banks and Emily, but their relationship provides many twists and turns. Some good... some not as good. At times they don't interact too well with one another. However, the characters, by themselves, are great.

Conclusion:
My first actual 2013-released film was not at all a disappointment, as Side Effects kept me interested and guessing throughout. The performances were not spectacular, but that is coming from the mind that last witnessed the amazing ensemble of Silver Linings Playbook, in which the acting was amazing. Regardless, the story was the focal point of Soderbergh's Swan Song, and he went out with a bang. Now, we must pray that 2013 can keep it up and produce many more memorable moments in film. I give Side Effects 3.01 out of 5 stars and warn you to check with your doctor before watching this film. Also, make sure aren't pregnant, nursing, or maybe becoming pregnant during the film. See what I did there!

21 Jump Street

Expectations:
Yes, Jonah Hill is an excellent funnyman, but, in the past, his excellence has been brought out by the actors that surrounded him. I certainly haven't seen all of Channing Tatum's work, but I just couldn't see how he was going to bring out the best in Jonah Hill. The previews did have hilarious moments. However, if you haven't realized it by now, most comedic trailers tend to be funny, regardless of how funny the actual film is. I really thought that 21 Jump Street was going to be one of those comedies that had nothing going for it, beyond the funny moments in the trailer. I mean, come on!, it's not even an original idea! But I had to go check it out...

Plot:
I'm going to be honest with you... I have never watched the old 21 Jump Street. All I actually know about it is that Johnny Depp was one of the main characters, but isn't that all that anyone knows about it? Regardless, I just want you to know that this review in no way critiques how well the original story was retold. So, as an original story (not idea), 21 Jump Street was absolutely fantastic. There wasn't any great genius moment of story-telling, but I can only remember one time where I thought "I haven't laughed in the last minute." As far as being funny goes, it's been a while since I have seen a comedy that made me laugh this much. Considering I watch like a bazillion comedies each year, that's a bold statement.

Best Scene: My favorite moments in 21 Jump Street were the random one-liners that just never ceased.

Characters:
I'm going to go against my expectations here and say that Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum were the perfect pair for this movie. I thought Jonah Hill was going to lose his funny with his weight, but he is still fat enough where they can joke about it, so fret not! Hill's character (Schmidt) was a former high school loser, who was given a second chance to become popular. Tatum's character (Jenko) was a former popular kid, who was stuck with the nerds during his second time around. While the emotional, awkward relationship moments were there between the two friends, it wasn't as awkward or emotional as the usual unfolding comedic friendship. The only negative that I found was a casting issue. While there were few really bad characters, I did feel like a few of the actors chosen were not right for their role (cough cough... Ellie Kemper and Dave Franco).

Best Character: Because this is best "character," I'm going to give the best character honor to Ice Cube's Captain Dickson. However, this is yet another role that I feel was poorly cast. I would have rather seen Samuel L. Jackson in the role. Obviously, I can't get everything that I want, but I should!

Worst Character: This one was not even difficult. While I absolutely love him on New Girl, Jake M. Johnson was awful as Principal Dadier. It was just an awkward role.

Conclusion:
While it is only March, I think 21 Jump Street has certainly grabbed itself a nice hold on being the best comedy of 2012. I certainly hope that a ton of other comedies come along that just blow me away as much as this film did, but I just don't see that happening. With this film, Jonah Hill has established himself as one of the leading comedic actors in Hollywood, but don't forget that he can do serious as well (Moneyball). There is no doubt that this is the most surprisingly good film of 2012, thus far, and, with the money it's made, I can't wait for them to announce a sequel. As I said, the one-liners stole the show. I would quote every single one of them for you, but the language would be a tad too offensive. If you want to laugh hard at some hilarious, dirty, offensive jokes, go watch 21 Jump Street! It will please you in ways that The Lorax and The Hunger Games just can't. I give 21 Jump Street 3.82 out of 5 stars...