CHIPS (2017) ***

I unironically love the original CHIPS TV show.  Sure, looking back, it’s dated and a bit cheesy, but there was a cool swagger to it.  It really wasn’t too much different than Dragnet or Adam-12 before it.  What made it special was the relationship between Ponch (Erik Estrada) and John (Larry Wilcox).

Dax Shepard is clearly a fan too.  His version of CHIPS is not unlike Dan Aykroyd’s take on Dragnet.  It keeps what made the original so great, while at the same time having fun with the concept.  Even though there is a lot of potty humor and graphic violence, the core of what made CHIPS such a classic is still there. 

Shepard plays John, an over-the-hill rookie and former motorcycle champion who joins the force to win back his ex-wife (played by Shepard’s real-life wife, Kristen Bell).  He gets partnered up with Ponch (Michael Pena), a cocky Fed working undercover as a motorcycle cop who’s trying to get to the bottom of a rash of armored car robberies.  They are as different as night and day, but they learn to put their differences aside and work together to take down the dirty cop (Vincent D’Onofrio) who’s been masterminding the robberies.

The chemistry between Shepard and Pena makes CHIPS cook.  They are incredibly funny in their scenes together.  Since this was not a hit and the chances of a sequel are slim, I hope they find another vehicle to work on together soon.  Shepard is particularly funny as the touchy-feely John who is obsessed with therapy and being politically correct.  Pena proves that he is leading man material and portrays the iconic role of Ponch with such swagger that I’m sure Erik Estrada himself would approve.

The most surprising thing is that Shepard can deliver on the action.  The various motorcycle chases and fight scenes (my favorite was the fight between two characters wearing casts on their arms that was staged like a sword fight) are crisply filmed with none of that shaky-cam nonsense to drag it down.  I especially liked the shots of the dashboard-mounted cameras on the police bikes that give you the feeling of being right in the middle of the chase.

Some of the humor veers heavily and unnecessarily into hard R territory.  I mean did we really need the scene where Shepard accidentally hits Pena in the face with his ball sac?  Part of me wishes it went for a PG-13 rating that would’ve been more reflective of the original show.  That said, it’s still hilarious for the most part.  It left this dyed-in-the-wool CHIPS fan grinning from ear to ear.