22 Jump Street: Movie Review

Quite reasonably the best sequel to a comedy ever made only due to its own self recognition as a sequel. 22 Jump Street brings everything you loved from the original on a grander scale, but lacks a tantalizing story with stereotypical plot points and expendable characters.

22 Jump Street takes place a bit after 21 Jump Street. After an undercover drug deal gone wrong, Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) enter back into the Jump Street Program and head to college to take out a drug supplier. While this isn't new territory for Hill, Tatum has shown us that 21 Jump Street wasn't a one time thing. Tatum's comedic timing and acting ability is still the stunner. Hill shows that he can lower his academy nominated acting to give the audience something less deep, but overall just as funny the second time around.

The film doesn't wait to get into the comedy. From the get go, 22JS is a laughing riot. The film starts out with a "Previously On," segment, recapping all the humorous events from 21JS. The laughs kick into overdrive once Schmidt and Jenko get to college, but so does the thin story. Schmidt and Jenko receive one lead to find a drug supplier. However, they are usually dragged into fraternity hazing rituals, football games, or romances and forget their mission at hand. While it all makes for crazy laughs and outrageous gags, that's all they're there for. The story is taken almost plot point by plot point from 21JS, but still throws in some surprising moments, like Ice Cube's more interactive role. However, most story elements are for convenience purposes, like the drug supplier at the beginning of the film being the same supplier running things all along or even the mystery of the drug dealing baddie. While story lacks, there is never a dull moment and the pacing doesn't slow, even during the breather moments.

While the story is thin and every plot point is almost exactly the same as its predecessor, the glory of the film is that it acknowledges itself as a sequel. From the beginning through the credits, the jokes land every time. The film brings great jokes, the same things we loved from the first, Tatum's great comedic timing, and enough new elements to keep its audience satisfied.

B+

Good Qualities: The film acknowledges itself as a sequel, Tatum's performance and the comedy makes everything work.

Bad Qualities: Thin story and cliched plot points

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