CHiPs

Baker (Dax Shepherd) is a former Motocross rider who has joined the California Highway Patrol to help save his ailing marriage, whilst Poncherello is an FBI agent who's been sent in undercover to help crack a string of daring robberies that are suspected of being carried about members of CHP. The two must put aside their obvious differences to become... CHiPs.

At some point, maybe it was around the time of the economic crash, people recognised that low-rent, gross-out comedies weren't working and effectively gave up on the genre. There's been flirtations with it since then, but most of these have been focused through a prism of either subverting the expectations of it, i.e. it's women (shock horror) doing the grossing out or it's actually a genre movie masquerading as a low-rent, gross-out comedy; Deadpool being the most obvious and successful example of this. CHiPs is the kind of film that, were it released in 2005 when we all had money to throw away on generally crap movies at the cinema, it would have been passable. It's 2017 now, a fat reality TV presenter is the leader of the free world and people are just barely to start to get used to the idea of having money again.

Dax Shepherd, who writes, stars and directs the film is amiable enough in the role of Baker and plays him like an earnest, enthusiastic puppy just trying to make friends with anyone and everyone around him. Michael Pena's character, meanwhile, is a sex addict who just wants to catch the bad guys, score women and drive around in his American sports car. The differences between the two, the thawing of Pena's gruff exterior and Baker's maturation, is where most of the film lives - but it's all done via fart jokes, dick jokes, sex jokes and prat-falls because real feelings are for losers in the world of CHiPs. Although the dynamic between them is unoriginal, it's just about passable and a lot of this is down to Pena being able to bounce off just about anyone.

The story itself is pulled from any kind of action comedy you can think of and really doesn't bare much thought or examination to it. You've got a gang of crooked cops, led by Vincent D'Onofrio, who are taking on these high-speed heists with motorcycles and a subplot about his son that is cut short in the most brutal fashion that makes for a jarring shift in tone. Although it may be intended to be a serious moment in the story, it's handled in such a haphazard fashion that it'll likely make you realise how little you care about either of the characters or the overall plot. Those who may have watched the TV series in the '80s will find nothing to catch on to, bar an incredibly strange cameo in the final moments of the film.

The action sequences aren't particularly well-directed or shot, and there's a lack of geography to them makes them confusing to watch and not particularly exciting either. Likewise, the comedy isn't terribly well-scripted and instead feels like they're relying on a number of takes and lots of editing to find the funny rather than it occurring of its own accord. By and large, CHiPs is a film you've likely seen before and done better. Super Troopers, Lethal Weapon, Midnight Run, even Todd Philips' remake of Starsky & Hutch had more laughs than this and did it a better way.

As forgettable as the TV series which it spawned. Avoid.