Now Playing: 21 Jump Street

Chan and Jonah are clueless cops in "21 Jump Street"

BY NATHANIEL ROGERS

YOUR FEATURE PRESENTATION

"High concept" was the hot showbiz term of the 1980s. The thinking went that if you couldn't describe your movie/tv show in one sentence, it wouldn't sell. That popular marketing wisdom stuck and High Concept itself shrank. First it devolved into This meets That, each new pitch being a mashup of preexisting hits. Today instead of one sentence pitches or previous hit fusions most new potential blockbusters are required to rely on a simple colon. It works like so… "Title of That Thing You Already Know: The Movie! "

This has led to all sorts of unfortunate movies based on books, games, plays and tv shows (and vice versa) many of them big hits. The danger is obvious. When you don't even have to try to make your entertainment memorable because the audience brings half the affection with them, creative laziness can often follow. But every once in awhile the audience gets lucky and Title of That Thing You Already Know: The Movie is surprisingly fun on its own terms.

21 Jump Street began its life as a high concept television series

"Young-looking cops go back to high school… undercover!"

And now it's a 21 JUMP STREET: THE MOVIE (the last half of that title is silent/implied) The twist is that rather than the earnest though light-hearted procedural drama it was in its infancy as it introduced Johnny Depp to the world in 1987, it's now a full fledged buddy comedy starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

The new version actually begins in high school where we meet Chan as "Jenko" a dumb popular jock and Jonah as "Schmidt" a geeky schlub.

See what they look like as high schoolers (the first time around) AFTER THE JUMP...

 

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill Warn of Dangers of Finger-Blasting Another Man's Mouth: VIDEO

A new 'PSA' from 21 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum warns of "attempting to hand-jack a friend or colleague's oral cavity without washing your hands," which is apparently a thing in the movie. Incidentally, that number they offer at the end goes to a heterosexual phone line.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...