Entertainment
Channing Tatum’s 2-Part Crime Series Remake Gets Kicked to the Curb on Streaming
There’s a certain kind of comedy that clicks with audiences on instinct, and it helps when it’s irreverent, wildly energetic, and just downright stupid. In the 2010s, few film duos captured that spirit quite like the mismatched partners of the Jump Street franchise, who breathed new life into a long-dormant, previously more straightforward crime series. Now, if you’ve been meaning to revisit those films on streaming, your window is closing fast.
Both entries in the Jump Street reboot series are scheduled to leave Prime Video at the end of February, meaning less than a month remains for fans to stream one of the funniest action comedy duos in recent memory. The films — a pair of $532 million global grossers — turned a cult ’80s police drama into a self-aware comedy machine. They’re anchored by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, whose chemistry as unlikely undercover cops brought the gags just as hard as the action.
In 21 Jump Street, Tatum and Hill play officers Schmidt and Jenko — two clashing partners sent back to high school to bust a drug ring. The follow-up, 22 Jump Street, sees them infiltrating a college campus as the jokes get bigger, the meta humor gets sharper, and the franchise’s willingness to poke fun at itself becomes part of the fun.
How Funny Are The ‘Jump Street’ Movies?
Collider’s review stated that 22 Jump Street clears the near-impossible hurdle of being a comedy sequel by doing exactly what Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, the duo behind the Spider-Verse films and the upcoming Project Hail Mary, do best: acknowledging expectations, then gleefully messing with them. The review praised the film’s self-awareness, noting how it edges toward parody without ever collapsing into it. Lord & Miller bring their animated sensibilities — honed on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The LEGO Movie — into live-action, stretching reality just enough to allow cartoonish, perfectly timed nonsense.
“The movie is always eager to branch out to other comic approaches, so the picture rarely feels stagnant. The characters are well-established at this point, and Hill and Tatum’s chemistry is even better. They bounce off each other perfectly, and while we expect Hill to be funny, he’s almost eclipsed by Tatum, whose growth as an actor continues to impress. I adore every one of their movies. They’re surprising, clever, weird, and while I could say their movies are far better than they have any right to be, the filmmakers have earned that right by succeeding again and again. 22 Jump Street shows that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Instead, admire your handiwork and brag.”
The Jump Street movies will leave Prime Video at the end of the month.
- Release Date
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March 16, 2012
- Runtime
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109 minutes
- Director
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Christopher Miller, Phil Lord