Review: 21 Jump Street and Lockout – Are Either Worth Watching?

Over the weekend, while I did battle with a sore throat that made me a super grumpy guy, the Queen and I managed to catch up on a few movies we didn’t see in theatres, both of them better than either one of us expected. The first was a big box office smash, while the other was unfortunately missed by everybody during its brief theatrical run. You can read all about 21 Jump Street and Lockout after the jump!
The first flick on our list, 21 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as two youthful looking cops working undercover in a high school trying to bust a drug ring. The movie was based on the original Fox show from the 80’s, which I did watch for a number of years (Grieco! Depp! Depp! Grieco!). Unlike the television incarnation, which was a pretty dramatic show, 21 Jump Street the movie is played for laughs and is actually a lot of fun.

I like both Hill and Tatum as actors, and the duo have a natural chemistry, much closer to Murtaugh and Riggs than Tango and Cash. The film does get a little long in the tooth by the end, and a few action scenes definitely feel out-of-place, but with decent laughs, some very cool cameos and solid performances from the two leads, both the Queen and I enjoyed 21 Jump Street way more than we thought we would have.

Out on Blu-ray/DVD today is Lockout, a sci-fi film starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace that did zero business when it was released earlier this year in theatres. A real shame, that, because Lockout is a solid piece of filmmaking that deserved more eyes on it, especially because of Pearce’s fantastic performance as Snow, a disgraced CIA agent who is sent to a prison planet to rescue the president’s daughter (Grace) who has been captured by escaped inmates.

Lockout has a decent (if obvious) script and some cool action sequences, but Guy Pearce’s performance is really what makes the movie well worth checking out. He’s a complete asskicker throughout, and gets in some stellar one liners at the expense of just about everyone, including the girl he’s supposed to be rescuing. Even though Lockout is somewhat predictable, it’s worth watching just to see Pearce in action. Here’s hoping he gets himself into a superhero film asap and becomes as big a star as he should be.