'Chips' 2017 movie review: Jack-chip happened!

5/10

Here comes yet another addition to the “ironic film remake of a beloved 70s/80s TV series” genre, which is starting to look as dated as the shows it purports to send up. Updating the cops-on-bikes action drama of the same name, ChiPs stars Michael Peña in the old Erik Estrada role of Ponch, a sex-addicted FBI agent who is tasked with rooting out police corruption by going undercover in the California highway patrol unit.

There he’s paired up with idiot-savant rookie Jon Baker (Dax Shepard, also the film’s director), whose guilelessness is counterbalanced by a remarkable gift for riding motorbikes. Soon the pair are on the trail of a dirty cop (Vincent D’Onofrio, entirely wasted in a gruff, underdeveloped role), bickering and blowing stuff up as they go. When placed next to the gleeful postmodernism of the 21 Jump Street films, this feels remarkably timid, its humour built around off-colour gags (including one desperately poorly judged Oscar Pistorius joke, which was kind of disgusting) and the mildly homophobia-tinged bromance between Ponch and Baker. Shepard and Pena do at least throw themselves into proceedings with elan, but they can’t prevent CHiPs from seeming a distinctly second-gear affair.

All in all there isn't much action nor comedy in this action/comedy pardon the pun but jack-chip happened. Tried to force the comedy to much and seems like the hole thing was rushed, I was really looking forward to this as I loved the 70s/80s show but it was rather disappointing from start to finish. Bad jokes and not that much better stunts. I  love Micheal Pena but he clearly isn't that great without a good script or strong actors to support him (Ant-Man, The Martian, Fury, shall I go on) and still he was the best in the film, which was full of lacklustred performances. So therefore I give this a generous rating of 5/10.