The ’21 Jump Street’ Trailer is Surprisingly Hilarious

In case you couldn’t tell from the recent slew of familiar 1980′s storylines, Hollywood loves its remakes. Hoping to cash in on your nostalgia, we’ve seen reboots of everything from Footloose to The Thing this year alone. Back in 2008, however, everyone cocked an eyebrow when news broke that Superbad’s Jonah Hill was going to write and produce a re-telling of TV drama 21 Jump Street. Yes, that show — one of Fox’s first successes about baby-faced cops Johnny Depp, Richard Grieco, and friends who went undercover as high school students where they busted drug baddies and more. The first trailer for the film has arrived, and if you had any doubts about the movie before, it’s probably safe to shelve them now: the three-minute long clip is hilarious. Hit the jump for our thoughts and a peek at the red band trailer.

Yeah, three minutes seems like overkill (save some of the jokes, fellas), but perhaps audiences needed a little extra convincing. Jonah Hill — or at least half the actor we once knew — stars alongside Channing Tatum (who’s currently filming male stripper story Magic Mike) in the action-comedy, which finds the comedic duo joining the secret Jump Street unit of the local police department. They go back to class undercover as ham-handed detectives trying to break up a drug ring, but find themselves facing their traumatic high school pasts. We get a peek at that hilarity through the awesome flashback scene.

Scott Pilgrim writer Michael Bacall lends his funny to the script, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs directors Chris Miller and Phil Lords take the reins here. It seemed like an odd grouping at first, but you might recall that Miller and Lords’ remake of the Judi Barrett book classic was surprisingly clever and damn funny for what could have been average CGI porn. It seems as though everyone went the smarter route here with self-aware humor, approaching the story from a more original standpoint. Dave Franco (being a jerk), Ice Cube (talking about Twitter!), and Brie Larson are amongst the film’s other players. Johnny Depp (the TV series helped launch his film career) also appears in a cameo role. Check out the preview below, and let us know what you think. Will you be in theaters when the film hits on March 16?