Review – CHiPs

The opening of CHiPs is a black screen with a warning on it that reads, “The California Highway Patrol does not promote this movie.  At all.”  Well, neither does this reviewer.  CHiPs has a few parts that made me chuckle, but overall is an immature, uneven, unfunny action comedy.

When aN F.B.I. agent (Michael Peña) goes undercover in the California Highway Patrol, he is teamed with a reckless, clumsy rookie (Dax Shepard) and the two work together to bring down a string of robberies they believe are being done by dirty cops.

CHiPs is based on a T.V. show from the late 70’s/early 80’s starring Eric Estrada and Larry Wilcox.  Though I never watched the show, I can assume it was smarter than this mess.  Written and directed by star Dax Shepard, this is an R rated movie made for fourteen year olds, meaning they will most likely not see this movie unless their parents were fans of the show or they sneak in.  It is loaded with immature, unfunny jokes about sex, dicks, and homosexuality that feel like they were written by a middle schooler.  We also get some moments that are suppose to shock, like when Poncherello (Peña) has a sexting conversation that doesn’t go as planned, that can be telegraphed from a mile away.  The funniest parts of the film are parts that, no matter what movie, I will laugh at, like someone getting hit in the head with a ball while riding on a bike. Little things like that are comedy staples.

The movie is also all over the place with its plot and story.  Poncherello is a sex addict that they nicely gloss over, Baker (Shepard) is trying to restore his marriage with his cheating, awful wife (Shepard’s real life wife, Kristen Bell), we get some side love stories between the cops, some drug story with our main villain’s son, and the central plot of the bank robberies.  All of these plots, mixed with the attempted comedy and action scenes, which are surprisingly violent and off-putting, make CHiPs a rather unpleasant experience.

I guess if there was one almost positive to the film, it’s Peña, who is far too talented to be in garbage like this.  He has some of the funnier lines and is just a good actor.  Shepard is an idiot, Kristen Bell is obnoxious, and Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also a genuinely good actor, stars in his second dud of the year, following the dismal Rings.  You’re better than this, Michael and Vincent.  Do movies that suit your talent.

CHiPs is a mess.  A sporadic, unfunny, brain-dead version of 21 Jump Street (2012) that wastes the talents of Michael Peña and Vincent D’Onofrio.  If you’re reading this review and you have yet to get a high school education, you may enjoy it.  Everyone else, avoid at all costs.

MY RATING – 1/4 

Did you see CHiPs?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.