Movie Remakes That Were Better Than the Originals

We're reviving a canceled undercover police program from the 80s and revamping it for modern times

You see, the guys in charge of this stuff lack creativity and are completely out of ideas

At this point, remakes are just an undeniable part of the filmmaking landscape

It feels like a guarantee that every summer we're going to have a minimum of one classic film redone

in an attempt to swindling audiences from their hard-earned dollars. And yet, sometimes these remakes aren't even based on classics

They're adaptations of something someone somewhere dimly remembers. And sometimes the idea of those remakes is so unnecessary and so dumb that it actually works

Hey, hey, stop f***ing with Korean Jesus. He ain't got time for your problems

He busy with Korean s***. Setting audience expectations is a key element in producing successful art

Basically, under promise, over deliver. And that's exactly what Chris Miller and Phil Lord did concerning their now beloved 2012 reboot of the nearly forgotten television show

37 Jump Street. No, that doesn't sound right. 21 Jump Street. The original television version of Jump Street premiered in 1986

Each episode of the show featured our cast of four youthful in-appearance detectives attempting to solve a crime of the week

which consistently tackled narratives based on real-life crimes, so much so that Fox television execs were worried about possible audience backlash

That girl's underage. If someone gave her drugs and she died, it's felony murder

So the show consistently featured cartoonish public service announcements informing audience members which helpline they could reach out to

if they were struggling with similar issues to those tackled in any given episode

Drugs are a problem. I mean, there's a lot of peer pressure in high school, and the point is drugs can really mess you up

This overly sincere execution on an objectively campy premise lasted for five seasons

We had some excruciatingly bad news for you guys. We're cops. You're under arrest

Jump Street even received a spinoff show following Richard Grieco character Booker that only lasted a single season but it mostly remembered as the program that gifted the world Johnny Depp His character Tom Hansen was the breakout personality of the show and when he left the program in season four

the overall quality dipped considerably. So let's buy some better drugs and get out of here already

Three weeks is getting kind of old. Today an ounce, tomorrow a kilo, step by step. Yeah

by about midterms we can bust the president of Columbia. After the show ended, it basically faded

into obscurity. Thus, it was nothing short of head scratching when in the early 2010s

rumors of a soft reboot or remake circulated throughout Tinseltown. While on the surface

appearing to be a cynical play for dollars, Lorde and Miller's 21 Jump Street is a movie that's

far and away better than it has any right to be. It's a project that simultaneously

doesn't overthink the concept while also improving on the premise with just a few small tweaks

-"Cut the bulls**t. I want to know who's the supplier." -"We don't know. That's why there's a question mark on his face. That's not the way his face

It's self-aware of the perceived notions an audience is bringing to the project

and it's actively trying to overcome them in an earnest way. First, the movie doesn't follow four or five detectives who are infiltrating a school

It follows a pair, two partners, who are each incredibly stupid in their own way

You do have the right to be an attorney if you want to. The main idea at the heart of the film is that these two people have unfinished emotional business they need to sort out

They have lingering trauma stemming from their high school experiences. And the adventure we go on with them will help heal those wounds

You're good at this, huh? Yeah. Test results, gentlemen. You're really good at this

Yeah. You want to be friends? That's an incredibly primal and deep theme to explore in a silly comedy about selling drugs and lying to teenagers

It's that dramatic tension that makes the movie work, though, and we push past that

idea fairly quickly and evolve it considerably. Schmidt was an outcast in high school

He struggled to connect to people or be seen as someone worthy of attention

Conversely Jenko was a jock and achieved popularity not through who he was but how he looked So in a perfect comedic turn of events as they go undercover due to a mix at the principal office our twin leads are placed in each other classes

I can fake my way through band practice and app chemistry for a few weeks

AP chemistry. AP chemistry. No, you can't because you don't even know what it's actually f***ing called

So Shy and Nerdy Schmidt is forced to be outgoing and sociable in drama class

Serious question now? How do I look? Ravishing. Is it too sexy of an outfit

Bend the knee a little bit? Yep, it is. And Jenko, the typically cool jock, is forced to bond with the nerds in chemistry class

Yes! Yes! That's what I'm talking about! That's what I'm talking about

I love this science s**t! This is what you guys do all day? Let's do it again

Each character is pushed out of their comfort zone and rapidly evolves into more than just

a stereotype. This movie came out before Channing Tatum was accepted by the wider public as an actual

movie star. This film played a major role in humanizing him. It allowed us to see him as not just a pretty face

but as someone willing to really put themselves out there. At today's track meet, you do that and I'll sign this pass

Don't blow on me, son. Were there jokes at his expense? Yes, absolutely, but he was decidedly in on them

It made him look humble and not pretentious. Like this guy right here, handsome and he's probably a dummy

And then this guy, he's short and insecure. And he's probably good with money

Oh, you are good with money. 21 Jump Street's brilliance is simple. It over delivers

It's a movie that is for younger audiences created by people who aren't 400 years old

The original show's PSAs and Weird Issue of the Week structure are the antithesis of anything an actual young person experiences

so definitively that it's been lampooned ever since. I was part of a special task force of very young looking cops who infiltrated high schools

How do you do fellow kids? Whereas this movie focuses on how the experience of high school shapes us

how our environment influences who we become, and how the experience of high school has shifted and evolved over time

You punched me because I'm gay? What? No. That is really insensitive I didn punch him because he gay I punched him and then he happened to turn out to be gay afterwards I was gay when you punched me The movie acutely deconstructs and mocks all the characters involved in the story It also builds a narrative structure around them that allows for

an expertly constructed three-act structure to take them, mold them, and then push them to the

breaking point. The film sets up Jenko and Schmidt as buffoons who did not fulfill their potential

post-high school and then were cursed with the unthinkable task of repeating high school

only to discover that it actually was a blessing. This heart and empathy for the characters that the story has

is what over-delivered on the expectation of a 21 Jump Street remake

Normally, a story like this would be looking down its nose at them the whole time

But here's the place where this remake goes even further. It's not just a remake

It's also a stealth sequel. The deus es machina of the film's third act

features a guest appearance by Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise, who both appear as undercover DEA agents who were former Jump Street officers

obviously intended to be Tom Hansen and Doug Pinhall. In fact, earlier in the movie, Holly Robinson, who plays Judy Hoffs in the show

appeared briefly as a cameo as well. Hey, look, no, look, we know what it's like being undercover

Metro Police Jump Street Division. Come on, you guys are Jump Street? Yeah, yeah. That's funny because we were actually Jump Street

What? That's crazy. The 21 Jump Street film should have been dead on arrival

It was a story no one was asking for based on a TV show most people don't even remember

And yet, it not only pulled in over $200 million, but spawned a sequel

It also dominated the box office and almost spawned a crossover film with the Men in Black franchise

But that's a conversation for another day. Nobody gave a s*** about the Jump Street reboot when you first came on

Anyone with half a brain, myself included, thought it was destined to fail spectacularly

But you got lucky. The fact that this movie takes these characters and evolves them into lovable and three-dimensional

characters is nothing short of astonishing. It speaks volumes that the final character beat of this movie is two police officers

joyously reading someone that Miranda writes. And not only is it hilarious, but it's fist-pumpingly fun

Anything you say can and will be used against you in a corner of the line