Dec 12, 2014
From the highest of highs (Guardians of the Galaxy, How to Train your Dragon 2) to the lowest of lows with this one. Don't get me wrong, both Damon Wayans Jr and Jake Johnson have good chemistry with each other. That's really the only reason the film gets the one start that it did. The film does the bare minimum to try and get by. This is 21, and 22, Jump Street dumbed down and stripped of everything that made those two movies as good as they are. At the very least, 21 and 22 Jump Street actually have character arcs. They may be silly and raunchy, but there's some interesting, maybe not incredible, character development. They don't just throw the raunch out there with absolutely no reason to do so. It all works to further the characters and their friendship with each other. This film doesn't even do any of that. Going for the gross-out, and I do mean gross-out, instead of the heart. I realize that may sound absurd to try in a movie like this, but it's not impossible to pull off. Superbad did it, and to wonderful effect I might add. Not to mention the fact that the film completely fails as a comedy. It'd be one thing if it lacked heart, but the movie is actually funny and entertaining to watch. I wouldn't have had a problem with that at all. It's happened before and will continue to happen again. Not every film can have a great story that showcases the bond between two friends whose lives didn't go exactly the way they planned. But you have to, at the very least, give it a fucking shot and not resign yourself to the fact that, well, there's nothing we can do to fix this, so might as well take the easy way out. There's one really gross scene, I'm pretty sure you'll know the one, and it was to the point where, if somebody else came in during that scene, I would be embarrassed to be caught watching the movie. When you're EMBARRASSED that you wouldn't anyone to know that you've watched this movie, then that's another level of bad. I've reviewed some pretty horrible kid's films, recently too, and I wouldn't have been as embarrassed to be caught watching them as I did during the particular scene I'm talking about. Just dreadful. I really think I'm being kind in giving it the one measly star I gave it. That just speaks to the talents of Damon Wayans Jr and Jake Johnson. They clearly deserve better than this. Much like a lot of films, this has its highlights. Or highlight rather. The scene with Keegan Michael Key is pretty decent all things considered. It runs way too long for my liking, as does the entire film really, but you take the highlights where you can get them, right? I would've made it a little shorter, for pacing's sake, but it is what it is. It's not really THAT funny, but it has some decent chuckles. That's about it for comedic highlights. Damon and Jake get into these childish slap battles that are more amusing that genuinely funny. The film just stumbles all over the place. It's an easy contended for worst film of the year. I don't blame the leads for any of this at all, they're pretty much completely blameless in all of this. I think this movie is even worse than I originally thought prior to reviewing it. It's really fucking terrible. No, it's not one of the worst movies I've seen, but outside of too few highlights, this is is a film that will literally make you sick for days after finishing it. No fucking hyperbole there. Avoid this like it's ebola.
Verified