‘CHIPs’ Trailer: Dax Shepard & Michael Pena Try To Go Full ‘21 Jump Street’
The more we see TV shows like Baywatch andCHIPsturned into movies, the more realization sets in that the success of21 Jump Streetas a quality comedy was a small miracle.
WhileBaywatchdoesn’t look bad, it just seems to be trying too hard to have the same blend of R-rated comedy and action that directing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller delivered wonderfully with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. And now we have the firstCHIPstrailer, revealingDax Shepard(who also directs the comedy) andMichael Peñaas unlikely partners in the California Highway Patrol. And ifBaywatchis trying to be21 Jump Street, thanCHIPsis trying even harder to be its cool PG-13 cousin.
Watch the firstCHIPstrailer after the jump.
Maybe I’m being a bit of a comedy snob here, but there wasn’t really anything here that made me laugh. This feels likeStarsky & Hutchbut without any of the chemistry and Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson had, and none of the style to make it stand out. Every joke seems painfully forced and not evenIsiah Whitlock Jr.(who we didn’t even know was in this movie) can bring a chuckle.
Outside of Shepard and Peña, who can be funny individually but don’t seem to have any spark between each other in this trailer, the supporting cast includesRosa Salazar(The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials),Adam Brody(The OC),Kristen Bell(Forgetting Sarah Marshall) andVincent D’Onofrioas the film’s villain, a corrupt cop.
It’s creative to have Peña’s character be an undercover cop given the alias of Frank “Ponch” Poncherello, but it’s not enough to make the movie as a whole that much more interesting. Maybe it’s just a rough first trailer, but I feel like I’m going to need some convincing to get excited for Dax Shepard’s latest turn as a director.
In CHIPs, Jon Baker (Dax Shepard) and Frank “Ponch” Poncherello (Michael Peña) have just joined the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Los Angeles but for very different reasons. Baker is a beaten up pro motorbiker trying to put his life and marriage back together. Poncherello is a cocky undercover Federal agent investigating a multi-million dollar heist that may be an inside job—inside the CHP. The inexperienced rookie and hardened pro are teamed together, but clash more than click, so kickstarting a partnership is easier said than done. But with Baker’s bike skills combined with Ponch’s street savvy it might just work… if they don’t drive each other crazy along the way.
