Film

CHiPs

Name: CHiPs
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Released: 2017
Cast: Michael Peña, Dax Shepard, Jessica McNamee, Rosa Salazar, Adam Brody

Other titles called CHiPs: the 1977 series (NBC).

Car-chase action

A loose, comedic reboot of the '70s cop show, trading procedural beats for buddy chemistry and stunts. Michael Peña and Dax Shepard play mismatched highway patrol officers whose partnership fractures over hidden betrayals while they chase down corruption in the LAPD. It's a film that knows exactly what it is: an excuse to wreck motorcycles and make jokes. For people who want action that doesn't take itself seriously.

TMDb rating

3.1

If you liked this

Bad Boys II2003

Two cops with wildly different personalities demolish Miami while investigating human trafficking. The chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence carries absurd action sequences that exist mainly to justify explosions and one-liners. Pure buddy-cop energy.

But It's aggressively 2003, including several scenes that have aged poorly. The plot is thin and the pacing stumbles in the middle.

Ride Along2014

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube navigate the cop-buddy formula with genuine affection beneath the chaos. Hart's manic energy bounces perfectly off Cube's deadpan exhaustion, and the film is smart enough to let their dynamic do the heavy lifting rather than relying on plot.

But It trades action spectacle for character comedy, which means the set pieces are small and forgettable. Some of Hart's humor lands closer than others.

21 Jump Street2012

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum play undercover cops at a high school, and the film is genuinely funny about their friendship fracturing under pressure. It understands that buddy comedies work when the buddy stuff matters as much as the laughs.

But It's uneven—some jokes die hard, and the final act devolves into chaos that doesn't quite earn itself. The premise sounds thin on paper.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from CHiPs

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Nice Guys2016

Both are Los Angeles-set buddy cop films where the partnership matters more than the case, but The Nice Guys is what happens when the formula gets smart and mean-spirited instead of broad and affectionate.

A private detective and an enforcer reluctantly partner to investigate a missing woman in 1970s Los Angeles. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe have chemistry that makes their incompetence feel earned rather than scripted. It's a buddy cop film from a different register entirely—smart, nasty, and funny about human weakness.

But It's deliberately gritty and morally murky in ways that push against the crowd-pleasing tone of most cop comedies. The plot is baroque and sometimes feels like it's withholding information.

Police Academy1984

A ragtag group of misfits becomes cops in a film that's essentially an extended sketch. It's silly, it's got heart, and it understands that competence is less fun than watching people barely hold it together. Pure escapism.

But It's crude, dated, and often stupid. The comedy is broad enough that you'll feel some jokes land on you rather than around you.

Lethal Weapon1987

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover created the template for mismatched cop partnerships. It takes its story seriously enough to have stakes while letting the characters' personalities do the real work. The action is tight, the banter is sharp.

But Gibson's performance is strenuously unhinged in a way that can feel exhausting. The film is also very much an '80s action picture—it hasn't aged as gracefully as it thinks.

Showtime2002

A struggling actor and a burned-out cop make a reality TV show together while investigating a serial killer. It's dumb in an intentional way, and Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy clearly enjoyed playing characters who are annoyed to be in this premise together.

But It's overstuffed and forgettable. The plot serves the comedy badly, and neither genre gets what it needs to shine.

White Chicks2004

Two FBI agents go undercover as white women to solve a kidnapping. It's fearless, ridiculous, and Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans committed to the bit entirely. The energy is infectious even when the jokes misfire.

But It relies heavily on broad physical comedy and parody humor that won't land for everyone. Some gags age poorly, and the plot is purely scaffolding for set pieces.

Superbad2007

Two best friends navigate high school's final days while trying to buy alcohol for a party. It's a coming-of-age comedy that actually cares about its characters and their friendship, making the humor land because the stakes feel real to them.

But It's teen comedy, so some of the humor is juvenile. The plot mechanics are familiar, and it's very quotable to the point of exhaustion if you encounter fans.

Hot Fuzz2007

An elite London cop is transferred to a sleepy English village where something sinister lurks beneath the quaint surface. It's wickedly funny about small-town politics and cop-buddy dynamics, layered with genuine affection for the genre it's skewering.

But It's very British, and some of the humor requires familiarity with UK culture and cop-film tropes. It also slows down considerably in the middle act.

Maniac2018

Like CHiPs, it's powered by two leads with strong chemistry trying to maintain their partnership through chaos, but Maniac uses genre-hopping and formal experimentation where CHiPs uses stunts and jokes.

Emma Stone and Jonah Hill take a experimental pharmaceutical for two days in a near-future New York. Each episode warps into a different genre—noir, medieval fantasy, spy thriller—giving the actors permission to do completely different performances in each hour. It's visually baroque and genuinely strange.

But It's deliberately disorienting and doesn't resolve neatly. Some episodes work better than others, and the tone lurches deliberately between tragedy and absurdity in ways that can feel exhausting.

Bulletproof1996

Where CHiPs is about two leads trying to convince us their partnership works, Bulletproof is about two leads who are fundamentally uncomfortable with each other, testing the premise of the buddy cop film itself.

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren play a cop and a criminal forced to work together. It's a low-budget action film that leans into the fact that two action stars have minimal chemistry with each other. The action is unvarnished, the banter is awkward in real ways, and it doesn't try to sand down its own rough edges.

But It's deliberately cheap-looking, the plot is negligible, and the leads don't light up together. If you want a film that *looks* like a major production, this isn't it.