By Travis Johnson
You know what killed the first wave of of TV-to-film adaptations? 1999’s utterly terrible The Mod Squad. What brought ’em back? 2012’s utterly brilliant 21 Jump Street. And now we have this.
It’s hard to say if anyone was clamouring for a redux of the iconic biker cop series from the late ’70s – early ’80s, but we’re getting one anyway, courtesy of writer, director and star, Dax Shepard. If this is a passion project, it’s a weird passion. CHiPs sees Michael Pena’s undercover FBI agent infiltrate the California Highway Patrol to root out corruption, taming up with Shepard’s daredevil rookie. It also sees a lot – a lot – of dick jokes.
Still, let’s glass half full this thing. The cast is pretty great, with Vincent D’Onofrio, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Bell and Adrian Brody all cropping up, and that decapitation gag is a clear nod to the Aussie bikie classic, Stone. Maybe it doesn’t matter that this looks about a tenth as funny as Jump Street, and that Shepard’s sole other directorial effort, Hit and Run, is nigh-unwatchable?* This might be fun. Maybe. There’s a chance.
CHiPs is in cinemas from April 6, 2017.
*to be fair, his holiday videos are freakin’ adorable.
