#ha-ra

Many eons ago in 1987, a police procedural show about young-looking adults infiltrating schools to stop crime, and featuring a young Johnny Depp, was one of the most successful dramas at its time. Given it's massive success in its heyday, it was only a matter of time before some Hollywood executive wanted to remake the series as a full-length feature film to swindle a few dollars from the nostalgic crowd. But thankfully, he handed his cash-grab plan to some people who had a clever idea for the adaptation. It was simply that the only way to make a movie with an insanely stupid premise is to film it as a straight-up comedy. Lo and behold, they got it completely right.

Our heroes are Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum), Laurel and Hardy reborn for a new generation. In high school circa 2005, the two had nothing in common but they did have the classic jock preying on the nerd dichotomy. Seven years later, the two meet up in a police academy and quickly become fast friends with each helping the other with their weakness. After they botch a simple arrest of drug dealers, the bumbling duo are reassigned to 21 Jump Street as part of a resurrection of an old 80's program of sending cops to infiltrate high schools and arrest threats to the school system. 

Schmidt is an intelligent but weak nerd and Jenko is a tough but dumb jock. But their respective strengths are used to great effect to compliment each other's weaknesses. Essentially, the two genuinely seem inseparable because they actually need each other to get out of their respective messes. Chief among their problems is to prevent a new kind of psychedelic, but potentially lethal, drug from going viral after its introduction in a public school.

The preposterous premise is played completely for laughs. Several characters throughout the film flatly point out how dumb this idea is, but say "fuck it" this is better than nothing. And this is the right way to tackle a concept like this. A similar tactic was used in Hot Tub Time Machine, which was also successful in riffing '80s vacation comedies while simultaneously pointing out the ridiculousness of their situation. I like it since it's the film's way of saying: "We know this is stupid. You know this is stupid. So let's just roll with it and have some fun." And fun was had in that movie, as there are plenty of laughs in 21 Jump Street.

But a comedy is only as good as its cast's ability to deliver the funny. Of all people, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum rise to the occasion for the job. Both actors have been dissed and chastised for their own reasons: Hill has always played the awkward fat nerd he made famous in Superbad while Tatum cannot squeak out a single emotion to save his life in several of his films.

But here you have a situation where the script is written for both actors to play up their strengths. This counts more for Tatum who can easily play a tough guy but little else besides that; but you may also be surprised/pleased to hear that Hill was also one of the writers for this film. Most importantly, the two actors have great chemistry with each other and genuinely seem like best friends in how they speak and work together. It works far better than a lesser film that just keeps reiterating they are best friends when they look like they have fuck all in common (see: Star Wars: Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and This Means War).

Meanwhile, the rest of the cast add their own neat touches when they're on screen. Ice Cube plays the duo's angry, Black police chief who literally claims he has embraced his stereotype to whip his officers in line. His scenes are wonderfully profanity-laden as he chews up the film. Meanwhile, Dave Franco plays the sneaky drug dealer/popular kid who's also amazingly forward thinking for his age. He's environmentally-conscious, planning on going to Berkley, and chastises other for using homophobic slurs. [Side note: Yes, Dave Franco is the younger brother of James Franco, and they do look remarkably alike.] There's also two wonderfully diabolical cameos for fans of the original series placed at the climax of the film, and their presence goes high on my list of best cameos ever (right next to the one in Zombieland).

The script helps all these actors come alive with their characters. The film takes a few pop shots at the "remaking everything" fad currently infecting Hollywood, gleefully aware of what it is. There's also some fun jokes made at the expense at action film cliches, especially one exploring the explosiveness of certain vehicles during chase sequences.

The only bad part I could find in this action-comedy is the whole "action" part. Gun fights are filmed poorly, and the chase scenes aren't particularly interesting (though the final one had some funny bits). Still, the comedy is more than enough to support the rest of the film with some genuine hardy laughs and many chuckles throughout.

In an age where Hollywood is hellbent on recycling any old property with a single whiff of fan recognition, it's a good sign that a film like 21 Jump Street exists. It's proof positive that pretty much any old concept can be transformed to be something greater than its predecessor, rather than blindly parroting the "feel" of the original. It's great for a night of plenty of laughs, so check this one out while it's still in theaters.

Action films have been having a glaring problem for the past few years in that they are boring compared to movies of yore. Drawn-out dialogue that isn't snappy or fun, little payoff when seeing someone gets punched, and fucking shaky camera work have made most action movies tame and hard to watch without dosing off. What we need is a good ol' fashioned martial arts film. And no, I don't mean Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, because wire-fu lacks the extra punch action movies need these days. I'm talking about needing a film with the finesse and brutality a Bruce Lee flick would depict; the creative use of firearms and weapons like Gun-Fu in Equilibrium; and the desperation of a hopeless situation while being surrounded by a mounting body count as in Hard Boiled. We need a film like The Raid: Redemption.

The film's plot is simple: psychotic bad guys are holed up in a run-down apartment complex raising the crime rate in the surrounding area, so a SWAT team is deployed to take the rapists, gangsters, and murderers out. Most importantly, the team is after the paranoid and brutal boss of the complex, Tama. Of course, the arrest goes tits up and shit goes down, leaving the 20-member SWAT team trapped in a building full of gun-toting lunatics who are all strangely adept in kicking ass. 

What follows is a 101-minute cavalcade of brutality as the cops, particularly the main character of Rama, shoot and beat their way through the building. Limbs and spines snap with sickening cracks, faces are smacked and riddled with bullets, while necks and legs are stabbed with anything that comes handy (including knives, doorways, and light bulbs). This film takes place in some sadistic universe where every person who dies must suffer a cringe-and-squeal worthy death at the hands of the police or gangsters. There were no less than six moments in this film that made we wince in pain as I clutched a part of my body and quickly prayed it would not meet the same grisly fate as that of the people in this movie. But make no mistake, this is the film's selling point.

Despite being filmed in claustrophobic, brown hallways, the action comes alive since the director, Gareth Evans, knows damn well you will only appreciate the action if you see the whole of an actor's body twist and bend across the screen. The camerawork is to be commended for not using that blight on action films known as "shaky-cam." You know what I mean, that style where the camera is bobbing up, down, and all around preventing you from getting a good look on what the hell is happening on screen. In other films, it's a technique meant to hide the fact the actors can't actually perform these stunts.

In The Raid, the director is proud and confident in his cast to perform their fights, and wants to make sure you always have the best possible viewpoint as the characters shoot, slash, bludgeon, and maim through the complex. The director shines brighter when he has to carry out multiple scenes across several floors and rooms, with the cops tossing crooks through doors or blowing holes through the floor and ceiling. In a lesser film, all this action would just seem chaotic, but thankfully we focus on only a handful of characters to guide us through the war zone.

The main guy is Rama, a rookie cop played by Iko Uwais, a best buddy of the director. And while Rama isn't deep and Uwais isn't an accomplished actor, Rama knows how to wreck someone's shit in 99 ways. He dispatches his foes in such a fluid and elegant way that the film almost becomes a ballet...a ballet where people die. More importantly, you see how the situation takes a toll on his body with him losing his bulletproof vest and making his way to the climax with a collection of scars and blood smears.

All of his magnificent fights pales in comparison to the fantastic finale. It's the best kind of crescendo where the hero fights the main villain and both are using every ounce of their strength and soul to murder the other guy. This culmination is actually two five-minute sequences with only a pause in between the two to give the audience a breather while advancing the thin plot. When it's over your senses are both drained and satisfied, like you just had sex while bungee jumping.

But as I mentioned, Rama isn't particularly interesting as a character besides his knowledge in opening a can of whoop-ass, and the other main characters are in similar situations. On account of this being an Indonesian film, there are English subtitles to the dialogue. But for all that is good, holy, and awesome in this world, DO NOT consider this a downside if you want to see a great action movie. Because the characters are not that interesting, the film must stand on its fight scenes alone. A hard gambit that few films actually accomplish, but The Raid: Redemption meets that goal and goes beyond that.

The Raid sets a new bar for what we should expect out of action movies. It makes us hungry for more intensity from so-called "action" films that try to obscure their failures in stunt design with poor camera work and passing it off as "realistic." You want realistic? You want entertainment? Then go watch The Raid: Redemption any way you can. Don't miss this.

-Ha-Ra