Review: We've Gotta Go Back To School...

The following is a review of the new movie, 22 Jump Street, and it will contain spoilers. If you have not seen the film, but are planning on it, I recommend that you come back after you've watched the movie, if you want, to get my take on the sequel. If you don;t care, one way or another, then, please, continue...


**********SPOILER ALERT!!!!!**********


The film, 21 Jump Street caught me completely off guard. I had never watched the television show, although I knew the premise of it, and was not really all that interested in the movie. Sure, it had Channing Tatum in it, but that still wasn't enough to get me to see it. Then I kept hearing all these great things about it. Finally, I decided to check it out... and boy, was I glad I did. Not only was it hilarious, but the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum was out of this world. The movie made a bajillion dollars, so of course, a sequel was a no-brainer for the studio.

Fast forward a couple of years, and here we have 22 Jump Street. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the movie opens with a funny bit about a bust gone wrong, where Jenko and Schmidt accidentally let the bad guys escape. They get hauled into the Chief's office, where they try to explain what went wrong. Because it worked so well last time, the police chief puts Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) back into the undercover program, now known as 22 Jump Street, because they were forced to move locations to across the street, when the Korean community bought back the church they were originally in. This sets off a hilarious running gag about the major increase in the budget, as their new offices are all state of the art and they actually have interns. Turns out that there's a new drug on the market, WHYPHY (Wi-fi... get it?) that's being distributed at the local college. The "McQuaid's" once again go under-cover, this time as college freshmen. Jenko is accepted right away, given his penchant for football and having a good time, whereas Schmidt has rougher go of fitting in this time. As they continue their investigation, cracks begin to show in their bond, as they are pulled in different directions. When Jenko's new BFF, Zook, is implicated as the drug dealer, it places even more tension between the partners. In the meantime, Schmidt meets the lovely Maya, who he then sleeps with. Maya has a weird, creepy roommate who constantly makes jokes about how old Schmidt is, while he continues to insist that he's a 19 year-old freshman. In another hilarious scene, Tatum takes the reigns and goes for it, when at the precinct it's revealed that Maya is actually Captain Dickson's daughter. The fall-out of this encounter also plays throughout the rest of the film. It leads to another intensely funny scene where Ice Cube goes crazy at brunch during parent's weekend at the college. Watching him destroy the buffet is awesome. Jenko and Schmidt eventually get a lead that brings them face to face once again with Ghost, the villain in the opening scene of the film who got away. Ghost manages to get away again. Traces of WHYPHY are found in the Psychology professors office, leading to his arrest as the drug supplier. In the meantime, Jenko confides in Schmidt that he's been offered a scholarship to play football, and that he is seriously thinking about doing it. Schmidt makes the decision for him, leaving the program and returning to the force, alone. Jenko tracks Schmidt down, who is back on patrol, and lets him know that WHYPHY is still circulating on campus. Schmidt tells him that he's been looking into the case too and that he figured out Ghost has been paying the tuition for someone at the school. The two decide that the supplier and dealers will target the kids during spring break, and head to Mexico to find them. They soon realize that Maya's weird roommate, Mercedes, is Ghost's daughter and is actually the drug supplier. Chaos ensues as they break into the room, guns blazing. Mercedes takes the captain hostage and is pursued by Schmidt, while Jenko follows after Ghost. Schmidt and Mercedes get into a very funny fist fight, before she's knocked out by Maya. Schmidt then goes to help Jenko, who is on the roof of the hotel with Ghost and his men. In an attempt to protect Jenko, Schmidt jumps in front of him as one of the bag guys fires off a shot, but he mis-times his jump and Jenko gets shot again. As Ghost is taking off in a helicopter, Jenko and Schmidt leap to grab it, and use the grenade that Schmidt has stored in his shorts to blow it up. As the crowd on the ground cheers, the partners realize that they make a good team and that they should stick together. As the credits roll, Dickson approaches them and tells them that he has another mission for them, this one in medical school.

I actually really liked this film. It was funny and well paced, and the chemistry between Hill and Tatum is spot on. I also liked the fact that this film knew what it was, and made the most of it. The cracks about this seeming familiar, the increased budget, doing the same thing over again, gave it a tongue-in-cheek kind of feel, that is welcome in a sequel. The problem with a lot of comedy sequels is that they just don't live up to the original. The jokes are never quite as funny or original and most of the time, it just feels like a rehash of the first one. While this one is exactly that, it knows that it is and doesn't shy away from the fact. It wears it proudly and practically screams it from the rooftops. It's approach is refreshing.

As I mentioned, the chemistry between Hill and Tatum is, once again, incredible. I remember reading an article about the first movie, where Jonah Hill called Channing Tatum and said, "I want you to be in this movie with me." Tatum then replied, "Why? I'm not funny." How glad are we, the movie fan, that Jonah Hill managed to talk him in to it? (Although, I would disagree with him, because he was hilarious in She's The Man with Amanda Bynes!) The two of them are like a comedy team, playing off one another is such a way that you actually believe in their bromance. While I'm sure, given the numbers that it's pulled in so far, another film, to make the franchise a trilogy, will soon be on it's way, I would actually like to see the actors tackle a different project together.

While this film is not perfect, it is good enough to say it's equal to it's predecessor. I wouldn't go as far as to say surpass, because I think that overall the first film was superior. This film had enough laughs in it that it's definitely worth the watch, although I could have done without the Rob Riggle/Dave Franco prison sex jokes. I enjoyed this film and would recommend it, although I wouldn't call it the comedy of the year just yet. I felt that Neighbors with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron was overall a funnier film, and the red band trailer for Sex Tape, with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz, has now bumped that one up to my must watch list.