When all is said and done “21 Jump Street” completely bastardizes the original television series from the eighties. The original show was a dramatic and controversial series that took painstaking turns in to very taboo subjects in America and was the stepping point for Johnny Depp. No one shares that frustration more than I do. But surprisingly enough “21 Jump Street” is still a fun and absolutely entertaining action comedy that is about as close to an American version of “Hot Fuzz” as you can get. While it does use the “21 Jump Street” model to get the premise rolling, it doesn’t really spoof or satirize the show. There’s no one mocking Johnny Depp, or Dustin Nguyen, nor is anyone mocking major episodes of the series. The directors do pay homage to the show with their own nods to the series, but it doesn’t lampoon the show so much as use the framework to tell a new story. A new story that’s incidentally based around a more comic tone.
“A Hard Day’s Night” is essentially the film debut of the Beatles and celebrates everything fun and creative about them. The film is meant to be an entertaining and care free romp through the lives of history’s most popular music group and the earthquake they caused when they stormed the music world. For fans of the Beatles who stuck it out with them through the period of re-invention and discovery of their musical and creative limits, “Yellow Submarine” is a film worth watching.
