Scene City #13: 21 Jump Street (Lord, Miller, 2012)

Some remember their high school years fondly; the friendships, the parties, the overall sense of teen hedonism and irresponsible mischief. I, however, am not too fond of it; as an ineffectual, anti social geek, my hours were spent usually in front of a screen (watching movies, TV shows or playing video games).

But the more I think about it the more I am convinced that it would, actually, be fun to go back to high school (with my adult sensibilities in high gear, of course). “21 Jump Street” presents us with the two classic stereotypes, the nerd and the jock, and does something interesting; it swaps roles on their adult life so the nerd gets to enjoy popularity while the jock gets to appreciate geekdom.

The movie is yet another big-screen adaptation of an old TV series (starring a young Johnny Depp apparently; I never saw it). The reason why many of these adaptations fail miserably is because they can’t distinguish the fine line between homage and parody (and that’s why camp can’t be reproduced, but merely mirrored or made fun of). “21 Jump Street”, however, works mainly because it is a very, very funny movie (something I did not expect based on its trailers). It plays like a usual Jonah Hill vehicle (think of “Superbad” meets cop-buddy bromance) but it gives the supporting cast laugh-out-loud moments that almost steal the show. Just wait until you see Ice Cube playing the archetypical angry black dude.

There’s some good acting in the film; the surprise being Channing Tatum, who’s usually as stiff and charismatic as a wood plank but here shows real comedic timing and good chemistry with Hill. I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed “21 Jump Street”. It’s a comedy filled with drugs, booze and dick jokes that’s actually really funny. In other words, it’s a riot.

Scene City #12: The Avengers (Whedon, 2012)

Since “The Avengers” is the culmination of a series that started with Marvel’s “Iron Man” followed by pictures devoted to The Hulk, Captain America and Thor (not to mention “Iron Man 2”), it’s only appropriated that I, first and foremost, confess myself a fan of the comic book mythology that spawned these films. I got to understand the superhero golden age through the pages of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and while they weren’t always quite the rousing success, they were certainly always fun. With this I don’t mean that I’m necessarily a fan of the movies; while the first “Iron Man” was a genuinely exciting adventure, its sequel felt like a quick cash-grab to get to “The Avengers”. “The Incredible Hulk” with its sort-of reboot/sequel mentality (mostly to counter the bad reception of Ang Lee’s version) was underwhelming although “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” were mostly fun popcorn movies (I especially liked “Captain America” since there’s a special place in my heart for WWII adventures where Nazis are complete buffoons).

Everybody knew, however, that “The Avengers” would be the tricky one to get right. After all, this is the one where the characters find a common goal and try to defeat an Earth-menacing villain (the whole movie becomes, basically, a juggling act balancing the tones of very different characters). After all, if Tony Stark is somewhat cemented in the real world (albeit one of amazing technological breakthroughs), how does Thor fit in, with his demi-god presence and power? How could we accept a superman with a shield fighting next to a CGI bulking hulk? And how to explain the presence of Black Widow and Hawkeye, agents without any kind of superhuman skill? (Ok, I’ll grant that Hawkeye’s arrows are pretty powerful).

But “The Avengers” is a success and the praise has to go, mainly, to Joss Whedon. He is a man who has gathered a cult following with “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “Firefly” and “Dollhouse”, a storyteller who understands how to craft a good story seeped in genre clichés, by turning its head on the typical archetypes. Most of all, he knows how to introduce humor amidst the drama and that’s the key to this movie. In a basic level, the whole mythology is absurd (as most comic books are) but Whedon knows how to build a “pressure and release” balance between heavy exposition and humorous action. There are truly some laugh-out-loud moments in “The Avengers”.

Every actor has found a comfortable niche within their characters. Robert Downey Jr. is all wit and dead-pan humor, Chris Evans is earnest and a natural leader and Chris Hemsworth is noble and mighty. Mark Ruffallo gets Bruce Banner right and for the first time, the filmmakers get the Hulk right. His scenes are some of the best in the film, proving that the Hulk is and always should be, a supporting character. Tom Hiddleston is a convincing monster as Loki, who’s always on the verge of redemption but never quite gets there. There’s surprising depth too within the relationships of Hawkeye and Black Widow and cool moments for Agent Coulson and Nick Fury (although I never quite liked the casting of Samuel L. Jackson).

“The Avengers” is a perfect summer entertainment filled with cool one-liners and amazing special effects. It’s well worth the hype.