Welcome back to Rearview Mirror, where we revisit movies from the not-so-distant past to see how they hold up today. This month, we’re diving into 21 Jump Street, a film I enthusiastically championed a decade ago, but revisiting it now feels… different. Has this action-comedy aged like a fine wine, or has it curdled like milk left out in the sun?
It’s not necessarily a fault of directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but 21 Jump Street is a product of its time. The early 2010s were awash in reboots and remakes, a Hollywood trend attempting to capitalize on nostalgia while replicating the blockbuster success of superhero franchises. Remember the 2010 Karate Kid? Probably not vividly, and that’s kind of the point. To jog your memory, that era gave us a wave of ‘reimaginings’:
- 2009: Fame, Friday the 13th
- 2010: The Karate Kid, The A-Team, A Nightmare on Elm Street
- 2011: Footloose, Arthur, Conan the Barbarian
- 2012: Red Dawn
- 2013: The Evil Dead
- 2014: The Equalizer, About Last Night, Endless Love, Robocop
And in 2012, amidst this remake mania, we got 21 Jump Street. It arrived the same year as The Avengers, a cinematic juggernaut that dwarfed everything else, making even a self-aware, comedic take on a vintage TV show seem refreshingly modest. (Let’s not even get started on how Avengers, directed by a certain controversial figure, hasn’t exactly aged gracefully either – but that’s a discussion for another time.)
Back in 2012, I was completely won over by 21 Jump Street. The premise – young cops going undercover in a high school to bust a drug ring – was familiar, but Lord and Miller injected it with a brilliant comedic twist. The central duo, played by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, were hilarious precisely because of their reversed high school archetypes. Tatum, the former jock, and Hill, the erstwhile geek, find that societal norms have shifted. Suddenly, in the Obama era circa 2012, Hill’s sensitive and conscientious Schmidt is considered cool, while Tatum’s macho Jenko is utterly out of touch. It’s a clever reversal reminiscent of Never Been Kissed, where the nerdy character gets a shot at high school popularity, but 21 Jump Street adds a contemporary edge: today’s teens are woke.
I recognized this shift immediately. Even in my high school days, recycling was important, and derogatory slurs were unacceptable. Lord and Miller nailed this evolving teen culture. Tatum’s comedic performance, especially when his character hilariously loses it while under the influence of the drugs they’re investigating, was gold. And when the drug emboldens Hill to burst into “I Gotta Crow” from Peter Pan? I was in stitches.
However, a decade changes everything. The perception of law enforcement, for one. In 21 Jump Street, Schmidt and Jenko are assigned to the titular unit as punishment for botching an arrest by forgetting Miranda Rights – a blunder played for laughs. But in today’s climate, such police incompetence, even if comedic, lands differently. Audiences are now far more critical of law enforcement, even when they are portrayed doing things “right.” Police missteps? Definitely not funny anymore.
It might sound overly critical to dissect 21 Jump Street through a 2022 lens, but the reality is that cultural contexts evolve, and our perceptions shift. Many core elements of this movie simply resonate differently now than they did ten years ago.
Then there’s the storyline involving Brie Larson. Watching it again, I initially misremembered her character as a slightly older, perhaps college-aged teacher, especially knowing her character and Hill’s character have a romantic connection at the end. It’s jarring to realize she portrays a high school student who becomes entangled in a flirtatious dynamic with Dave Franco’s character, setting up a love triangle. I genuinely thought I was misremembering. Surely, they just become friends, right? But no, around the third act, the film explicitly states her character is 18. And yes, there’s a kiss between her and the 25-year-old Hill just before the credits roll.
Look, it’s just a movie, and it’s just a kiss between two legal adults. I’m not going to accuse the film of promoting anything nefarious. But am I cheering for this cinematic couple in 2022? Definitely not.
The final element that hasn’t aged well, and perhaps the most predictable, revolves around the cameos. The climax features side characters removing prosthetics to reveal themselves as stars from the original 80s Jump Street TV show. Cameos pepper the film throughout, but the one everyone remembers, and was once a major selling point, is Johnny Depp. Remember articles celebrating Johnny Depp as the “Nicest Guy In Hollywood” for his cameo? Fast forward a decade, and Depp has been replaced in a Harry Potter spin-off franchise amidst serious allegations. Again, none of this is the fault of Lord, Miller, Hill, or Tatum, but it undeniably casts a shadow over the film today.
I haven’t revisited the sequel, 22 Jump Street, which transplants the undercover cops to college. I recall it being funny and I’m willing to assume it’s less…problematic in these specific ways. But, to reiterate, it’s not about being overly critical or puritanical to acknowledge that 21 Jump Street hits differently now. Times change, and our cultural lens shifts.
Comedy, perhaps more than any other genre, ages unevenly. Humor styles evolve, and the cultural tensions that fuel jokes often become lost on contemporary audiences. Consider the prevalence of gay-panic jokes in 90s and early 2000s sitcoms. Back then, the idea of two straight male friends being forced to kiss was considered inherently hilarious. “Ew! OMG!” Now? Most people shrug. (Though, sadly, maybe not everyone, judging by certain legislative trends, but hopefully, society is progressing towards greater tolerance).
Even the drug trip montage, which should be timelessly funny, didn’t elicit the same roaring laughter as it did in the theater. Contrast it with the mushroom trip sequence in 2007’s Knocked Up, which still cracks me up. Perhaps because in Jump Street, the drug trip follows a predictable comedic formula, while in Knocked Up, the character development shapes the drug experience, not the other way around. It allows Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen to have introspective moments amidst the chaos of hallucinating about chairs. And men grappling with emotional crises? That comedic trope, thankfully, never goes out of style.
FL
