Review: 22 Jump Street

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

“22 Jump Street” is a movie that doesn’t lie about what it is. It’s an R-rated summer comedy film, but most importantly (and they don’t want you to forget it) it’s a sequel. In an age where the movie going public says they’re tired of sequels, remakes and reboots – yet pays to go see them anyway – “22 Jump Street” opens and tells its audience that it is definitely sequel and that it’s going to be just like the first time. It even hints at many more to possibly come.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first film “21 Jump Street” but I did like the pairing of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense why those two would be paired for a buddy-cop action/comedy, but at least it worked. For “22 Jump Street,” Hill and Tatum return as Schmidt and Jenko. We open with them attempting to bust a smuggler known as The Ghost (Peter Stormare). Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) doesn’t think anyone likes them busting up smugglers, so he’s sending them back to Jump Street to do more of what they did the first time around. I’m not paraphrasing that; Offerman really says that showing us once again that this is a sequel and it’s going to be exactly like the first time.

On Jump Street, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) assigns them to a nearby college to investigate a growing drug problem. A young student named Cynthia has recently overdosed on a new drug that’s going around campus and they need to find the supplier and find the dealer – just like the first time. Early evidence leads them to some football players including Zook (Wyatt Russell) who shares a very similar personality to Jenko. Left out of all the fun, Schmidt is left to look into Cynthia’s dorm neighbor Maya (Amber Stevens) and Cynthia’s ex-roommate Mercedes (Jillian Bell). Working apart for one another causes a bit of a rift between Schmidt and Jenko.

And we’re reminded every chance they get that this is the second time around and it’s just like the first time. We’re told they’ve spent more money this time around and expect better results. There’s even a little dig at how Jenko did some Secret Service work since the first time but that didn’t work out too well (a little slam at last summer’s “White House Down”).

Using the same format again for the sequel under the assumption that it worked well the first time never really works (see – or rather don’t see –  “The Hangover Part II”). The formula used for the first film is utilized here too, just like they say numerous times in the movie. As the movie progresses, you start to notice that they’re actually telling a different story and it is – in fact – not like the first film at all. And that’s quite a relief.

There’s nothing worse than a movie sequel that knows its going to be terrible and attempts to make its audience entertained by forcing the same plot line down their throats complete with the same jokes and gags. They think we won’t notice, but we do (see – or rather don’t see – “The Hangover Part II”). One thing I always notice in sequels is that the characters established in the first movie are often turned into caricatures of themselves in the second. The “dumb one” in the first movie is flat out stupid in the second one. The “smart one” keeps the plot moving in the first, but is reduced to telling jokes that don’t fit his personality in the second.

“22 Jump Street” doesn’t do that to its characters. We got to meet Schmidt and Jenko in the first film and got to know who they are. In this sequel, they’re the same people. And since Schmidt and Jenko were what kept “21 Jump Street” from being a total disaster, why would they need to be over embellished in the second? And they’re thankfully not.

Hill and Tatum are a great team. Since they already used the first movie to establish these characters, there’s no need to spend anytime on further development. It’s like seeing friends we haven’t seen in two years and feeling like we haven’t lost any time. Ice Cube gets more screen time too, which is a welcomed addition. He starts out doing the same thing he did in the first film, but as it begins to distance itself from the first, Ice Cube gets more face time.

The character Jillian Bell plays is outstanding and absolutely hilarious as well. Bell is famous for her role on Comedy Central’s “Workaholics” and she nearly steals the show in this movie. A scene with her and Hill is featured in the preview for this film, and its even funnier than what’s shown in the trailer.

Normally I’d pan a blatant cash grab sequel like “22 Jump Street” but it’s so much fun and utterly amusing that I can’t help but praise it. Those who thought “21 Jump Street” was great (and I was not one of them) will love this one even more. The jokes are new and aren’t rehashed from the first. The plot line is different enough to keep us guessing. And the characters aren’t radically different this time around. It’s refreshing to see a sequel do it’s own thing while at the same time acknowledging that its here just to take some more of your hard earned cash. You’ll walk away not feeling cheated by a sequel for once (see – or rather don’t see – “The Hangover Part II”).