“22 Jump Street,” the sequel to the unexpectedly hilarious “21 Jump Street,” shows that the buddy-cop comedy genre is getting a whole new look on film, full of great characters and ridiculous action.
After discovering their friendship by having to go through high school again as undercover students in 2011’s “21 Jump Street,” things are looking up for officers Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) when they get called back to the Jump Street. Their new mission: “to do the same thing as before,” except at the local college. However, when Jenko finds a place among the fraternity-infiltrated football team and Schmidt connects with the college art scene, they begin questioning their partnership. As the case becomes more difficult to solve, the duo has to figure out if they can have a real, mature friendship.
What makes “22 Jump Street” as humorous as the first is a focus on the bromance between the two main characters. Add loads of innuendos, slapstick comedy and a similar plot that made the original so successful — what results is a sequel that improves upon its predecessor. After already grossing close to $60 million in its first weekend, it is easily one of the better comedies of the year.
While many thought this sequel wasn’t really necessary or that it wouldn’t do as well as the first, the theater was laughing for pretty much the entire film. From the beginning, the film makes fun of itself for being a sequel. Pretty much any dialogue from Chief Hardy (Nick Hofferman) is directly negating the fact that Schmidt and Jenko are supposed to do to do the exact same thing as last time because of how successful they were. The same kind of humor lasts for the rest of the film. Hill and Tatum once again show that they really do have chemistry together, which seemed to carry the film.
Hill shows off a more emotional side to his acting than that we’ve seen in dramas like “Moneyball” and “Wolf on Wall Street,” but he still finds a way to throw in his natural comedic flare. Tatum continues his role by playing up his athleticism in most of the action scenes, including some really impressive parkour with scaling balconies and jumping off of buildings.
Ice Cube returns to his role as Captain Dickson, but gets a lot more screen time as Jump Street commander. Other notable roles were Maya (Amber Stevens), Schmidt’s friend in the art scene; Mercedes (Jillian Bell), Maya’s hilariously insulting roommate, and Zook (Wyatt Russel) who is Jenko’s football liaison.
The jokes in this film are undoubtedly goofy and often slightly crude, but the timing and way they’re made make them quite laughable. Like its predecessor, the film didn’t fall prey to what many modern comedies do and give away the entire plot and good jokes in the trailers. Instead it showed most of the jokes from the first sequences and basic plot that related to the first film, making most if not all of the better jokes unexpected and that much better. Story wise, there are obvious connections to the first film in the beginning (since they make fun of the fact that it’s a sequel) but once the guys make the move to college, their journey takes a more mature route. The film becomes all about Schmidt and Jenko’s bromance, which is treated like a couple going through a rough patch in their relationship, even going so far as to have them unknowingly go through couple’s therapy. The plot of the story centers around their relationship rather than basing it around the “cops solving crime” side, which makes it stand out from the original and other buddy-cop films of the past like “Lethal Weapon.”
Fun Fact: Stay through the credits to see some hilarious cameos and jokes.