22 Jump Street

Quickie Review:

After a successful undercover drug bust operation in high school, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) get their next big assignment. Now in the sequel 22 Jump Street, as Ice Cube so eloquently put it, these "two sons of b***hes are going to college." As the cop duo take on yet another drug ring, they go through multitude of ridiculous yet hilarious situations. In doing so, there are some formulaic traps that the movie does fall into. Despite that, it is just an incredible ride with non-stop laughter and great comedic chemistry between the lead actors. This is a must-see for fans of 21 Jump Street and people who generally like to laugh.

Full Review:

The original movie, 21 Jump Street, was a surprise hit back in 2012. It was a movie filled with many belly aching moments of laughter. For that reason, of all the comedies of 2014 this sequel may be the most anticipated, at least it was for me. So the question is: does it deliver on the high expectations? And the answer is: oh hell yes it does.

There is one absolute in this franchise that no one will dispute, the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is incredible. As soon as their on screen you immediately start smiling, just because you feel the need to prepare yourself for something amusing. Then when they do go about their shenanigans, numerous twists and turns occur that are fun to watch unfold, to hilarious effect. The jokes are fast paced and relentless, without it being tiresome. More importantly the comedy is actually clever, even during some of the scenarios the are more stupid due to some absurdity. The combination of the comedic duo and the intelligent humor work flawlessly, making the flick all the more entertaining. As great as the two leads are with their comedic timing, I need to especially mention Ice Cube. I won't spoil anything of course, but there are points in this movie where Ice Cube actually steals the scenes he is in. I'd pay the full movie ticket price just to see that dynamic between Ice Cube and the two leads. It is that good.

I do recognize there are some faults with 22 Jump Street. It did stick with the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." In that sense, the general story plot is pretty much the same as the original movie. 22 Jump Street is self-aware of what it is, and pokes fun of itself for being a sequel that follows the formula. However, addressing this fault in that comedic way will not be enough for everyone to forgive it. Still, I think this is something that you can easily look past because of how enjoyable the movie is.

The one purpose of a comedy is to make you laugh, and 22 Jump Street fulfills that requirement consistently throughout the movie. By throughout the movie, I mean even during the credits. Your cheeks will have a good exercise, because mine were in pain with all the laughing. It is well worth your time and money, so don't miss out on this one. If they keep this up I will be there even at 1022 Jump Street.

I watched this right after 21 jump street. This started off better for me. I was cracking at "my name is Jeff." I somehow absolutely forgot about that. I had to pause to stop laughing. I still remembered the slam poetry scene, because it felt pretty accurate lol. That's literally what I hear when someone shows me slam poetry. Weird seeing Wyatt Russell in this after seeing his roles in Monarch tv series and Night swim recently. Funniest bit was the Captains daughter bit. I don't know if I remember correctly but Kevin Hart was also sleeping with ice cube's daughter or something in 'Ride Along' too? This keeps happening to him lol. I think it was written better, still dumb and childish, but better. I loved the open relationship/investigation thing, the movie is filled with relationship metaphors throughout. It teased so many jump street sequels and I was laughing because surely your cover could be blown after so many undercover missions. Anyway I enjoyed this much more than the first, certainly got a lot more laughs out of me.

Hilarious, often outrageous, but above all thoroughly entertaining, 22 Jump Street manages to recapture all the humor and audacity its successful predecessor had to offer, while also offering some new thrills and unpredictability along the way. The film strikes a unique and clever balance between exploring new comedic ideas and continuing the themes from the first installment, as it maintains its core story but also offers enough twists to create new excitement. Although the storyline is very much similar to the first film, it does seem fresh and original at the same time, which creates a sequel that can be differentiated from others, as the plot is not merely redesigned in an awkward and uninteresting way. But perhaps the film's dominant feature continues to be the strong chemistry between the two leading men, who again combine their talents to create the ultimate comedy team. Overall this comedy sequel stands out due to its ability to embrace the success of the its predecessor, as 22 Jump Street uses the power of repetition to recreate the unique comedic atmosphere, which allows the film to establish a very distinct comedy series.

First of all, big complements to the protagonists. The chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is incredible. As soon as their on screen you immediately start smiling, just because you feel the need to prepare yourself for something amusing. The jokes are fast paced and relentless, without it being tiresome. More importantly the comedy is actually clever, even during some of the scenarios the are more stupid due to some absurdity.

22 Jump Street is self-aware of what it is, and pokes fun of itself for being a sequel that follows the formula. However, addressing this fault in that comedic way will not be enough for everyone to forgive it. At the other hand, I think this is something that you can easily look past because of how enjoyable the movie is. The requirement of a comedy is to make you laugh, and 22 Jump Street fulfills it totally. Your cheeks will definitely have a good exercise! ;)

Usually remakes aren't very good, with many bombing and being outshone by the original version. But to everyone's surprise 21 Jump Street was a hit, earning 200 million and giving the careers of both Hill and Tatum a big boost to two already big names. Then just like any action, the producers decided to throw more money at the same people hoping for the same result. Usually all this leads to is everything being the same but with more explosions and a bigger pay-check to get the same people back.. Well, that's exactly what 22 Jump Street also does, with as much as possible remaining just the same. The difference being that it's honest about it, with the entire film mocking the regular clichés.

Even the outline of the plot mocks the regular concept of every sequel. Hill and Tatum are constantly reminded to do everything the exact same as last time at every chance they get to say it. The logic being since it worked last time, it'll work again. Only this time they'll throw more money at it to better ensure success. Because increasing the budget is certain to increase the profit. This is one of the many self aware jokes that the film keeps throwing at us. Usually staying fixed on joking that it's a sequel would get repetitive after a while, but the film just keeps handling it in different ways to keep the laughs coming.

It works because of the clever writing which parodies every detail of an action sequel, keeping the jokes fresh and original. They'll make a joke out of everything from the fact that things getting destroyed in car chases costs a lot in the budget to even John Woo's doves being randomly thrown in. At times some of the jokes don't work quite as well, but there's enough hilarious moments packed in to make sure the laughs keep coming and mocks every possible detail of the action sequel.

On top of this, the actors know how to make the jokes work with all the actors having the same charm as last time. Ice Cube gets his angry boss role down to the note, mastering the angry stare and yelling almost every line of dialogue he gets. The cameos from the villains be as over the top as you can get. And just like before, both Hill and Tatum bring their A game in their ultimate bromance together. It was one of the key elements of the first film and the actors chemistry remains just as funny and enjoyable here. If anything more so here, with their conversations growing more like a married couple and a lot more opportunities to be hilariously over the top.

Which is the main reason that 22 Jump Street is one of the few sequels that's better than the original. It's everything that 21 Jump Street was, just bigger and better. With the likes of this, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the Lego Movie it's clear that Lord and Miller are quickly becoming 2 of the biggest and best names in comedy using both slapstick and mocking clichés to keep the laughs coming strong. I don't know whether they intend to do any more sequels, but as long as they maintain the consistently funny films that they have so far I can only hope that they make as many jump streets as they can.