DVD Movie Review - 22 Jump Street

22 Jump Street comes out swinging with absurd sequel parodies, hilarious dialogue, and embarrassing humor.

STORY:

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are having trouble with adult undercover.  To quell their misgivings, Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) sends them back to Jump Street.  But 21 Jump Street doesn't exist anymore.  So the pair heads across the street to 22 Jump Street: a high-tech version of 21 Jump Street hidden in a church that has a Vietnamese Jesus with “swagoo”.  Since the plan worked last time, Jenko and Schmidt are given the exact same investigation, only this time they're heading to college.  The assignment: find the supplier of a new drug called Whyphy on campus.  Mexican wolverines, octopuses, slam poetry, meat-Q sandwiches, open investigations, relationship therapy, and unorthodox fight scenes ensue.

"It's time to stop all these shenanigans.  That means no more eating other kids' crayons, Schmidt, and

if you're going to steal another kids' homework, Jenko, at least change the name 

before you turn it in."

THOUGHTS:

The film begins with a "previously on" and after the first couple of minutes, you'll realize that 22 Jump Street is well aware of itself and the writers, actors, and director are all in on the joke.  22 Jump Street could have went the route of straight comedy and tried to play off its strengths from the first film, but instead it understands it's a sequel and makes that the running gag throughout the film.  The difference this time is the budget has increased, the cast has increased, and the set sizes have increased.  What does this mean?  It means you'll get the same embarrassing humor as the first movie with almost the exact same plot, except everything feels grander.  You'll see bigger and better guns, more high-tech gadgets for stealth operations, nicer cars (Lambos), and the victim this time around is black, which Schmidt adamantly points out, "makes them care more."

Now if you get offended by comedies that step over the line, you're probably going to have a bad time and that's a shame, because the story may have similarities to the first movie, but the humor is fresh and there's even a tiny bit of character growth.  So who is this movie really for?  People that enjoy inappropriate, senseless, and pointless humor.  Loving 21 Jump Street is definitely a requirement.  And if you did enjoy Hill's nerdy, innocent Schmidt, teaming up with Tatum's athletic, loud Jenko, then you'll have little complaining to do at the end of this movie…it's that simple.

"You're going to have to tell me where the bad guys are, because even though they look cool, I can 

barely see out of these glasses."

A SEQUEL, BUT THE SAME:

It’s exactly same.  What worked in the first movie isn't only referenced in the second, it's damn near copied.  In 21 Jump Street, thirty year olds had to go undercover and act like children.  Happens in this one too.  They got high and there was a montage of them doing stupid crap.  Also present in this one.  Schmidt fell for a girl and Jenko made friends.  Here too.  But even though the second movie follows in the first one's footsteps, each and every comedy bit has been heightened and exaggerated further than you ever thought possible.  So copying the premise from the first movie could be seen as 22 Jump Street's one problem, but only from viewers that haven't seen a trailer or read a review and have no idea what kind of movie they're in for.

"We really appreciate all the information about your rear end, but can you hold off talking at 

least until we ask a question?" 

THE HUMOROUS ACTING:

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are the perfect Odd Couple for the current generation.  Hill represents the intelligent, warm-hearted crowd, while Tatum represents the slightly stupid, but really fun crowd.  Are their characters deeper than the stereotypes?  A little, but who cares.  They're damn funny and the movie hits on all the right notes.  And even though they're hysterical together, both actors have their own laugh-out-loud scenes.  Towards the end, Hill has one of the best fight scenes ever filmed in a comedy and Tatum will make you piss your pants when he realizes what's been going on between Schmidt and the Captain.  Speaking of Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), he—again—steals every frigging scene he's in, no matter how many actors are present.  His dialogue is beyond ridiculous and he has one moment—during a buffet dinner—that is over-the-top-balls-funny. 

Jillian Bell plays Mercedes, a strange roommate that enjoys watching and listening to everything Schmidt says and does.  Towards the end her character will really shine though, as she's more involved with the story than first perceived.  Rob Riggle pops back in for another memorable scene as the jail-bird, Mr. Walters and Dave Franco spends a few minutes mumbling behind bars.  The lovely Amber Stevens ends up playing the only non-comedic character named Maya.  Even though she's not making you laugh, she's helping balance out the movie, so it doesn't appear to be all nonsense.  As for the rest of the cameos in the film, do not…repeat DO NOT miss the ending credits.  Those last few minutes are absolutely hysterical and really tie the perfect bow around an outrageous comedy.

"...but no one said we were going to have to learn to read."

CONCLUSION:

22 Jump Street is exactly what you think it is: a copy of the original with more outlandish jokes, senseless fighting, pointless explosions, and better weapons.  This film puts a new meaning to the saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  With great writing, fantastic comedic deliveries, and a bigger budget, where can you possibly go wrong?  If 21 Jump Street made you laugh throughout, then 22 Jump Street will easily do the same.  Now, if you don't appreciate silly humor, don't feel bad, because at this very moment someone's probably making a documentary about ants that you'll enjoy a little more.

4 out of 5 Stars (minus a star for almost being an exact copy of the first)