2 years after graduating (heh) from the 21 Jump Street program, officers Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) are still chasing down drug dealers but this time they're doing it on the street. After a failed drug bust they are sent back to the program that made their names, now located across the street at number 22, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) welcomes them back to Jump Street... Well sorta... Anyways... As teased at the end of 21 Jump Street, Jenko and Schmidt head to College to find the drug supplier of a new on campus drug WHYPHY (Work Hard? Yes. Play Hard? Yes) a new synthetic drug that makes students incredibly focused for about 3 hours before tripping major balls for the next several hours. As expected, a student dies from the drug after being photographed purchasing it from a masked man. Simple enough right? Find the dealer, then find the supplier... Wait minus the College and the name of the drug isn't this the exact plot of the first film? We're going to discuss why this is but at the same time is not a bad thing.
I'll kick this off with stating that I loved the first movie, I generally judge comedies extremely hard as I feel the need to be able to enjoy a movie even after several viewings, this is especially hard to do as you can imagine since jokes generally get stale after you heard them a couple times, 21 Jump Street always had me laughing, it's one of the rare movies that can hold that claim, which just goes to show you how much I appreciated the original... Bad news for 22 Jump Street however as it set the bar extremely high for future sequels. An expectation it couldn't possibly meet... Or could it? Mike?
Before I get started, I would just like to thank you Donny for coming to watch this movie with me... Dick!
It'a not my fault my girlfriend took me on date night... Plus ever since the failed stretch and yawn you pulled during X-Men, going to the movies with you has become uncomfortable.
Well, like the person who stood me up for this movie... I'm also a huge fan of the original, made all the way back in 2012. I had really high hopes when I heard that a sequel was coming out this year. What are my initial thoughts? Well, it's essentially the same movie... It's pretty much the same setting, just replace high school with college... It's also the same movie because it's still funny as hell!
I agree, I did find it funny but I felt they went back to the well a few too many times, by that I mean they used a lot of the jokes that were good in the first one again, it reminded me of that Dumb and Dumber prequel that everyone pretends doesn't exist anymore. That doesn't mean there aren't good jokes here, as there absolutely are but with the good come the bad and I do find it disappointing that on more than one occasion I was watching the movie and thought to myself "Really? They actually think I'm going to laugh at that?" So essentially in one hand it's trying really hard not be creative with the recycled gags, all the while the characters make fun of the exact same lack of creativity which leaves us laughing it's the perfect balance in a generally inperfect system but I'm happy that 22 Jump Street summoned it's inner Scream (Except number 3... Like Dumb and Dumberer, that one doesn't exist) in order to make fun the film's very apparent flaws.
I agree, I did find it funny but I felt they went back to the well a few too many times, by that I mean they used a lot of the jokes that were good in the first one again, it reminded me of that Dumb and Dumber prequel that everyone pretends doesn't exist anymore. That doesn't mean there aren't good jokes here, as there absolutely are but with the good come the bad and I do find it disappointing that on more than one occasion I was watching the movie and thought to myself "Really? They actually think I'm going to laugh at that?" So essentially in one hand it's trying really hard not be creative with the recycled gags, all the while the characters make fun of the exact same lack of creativity which leaves us laughing it's the perfect balance in a generally inperfect system but I'm happy that 22 Jump Street summoned it's inner Scream (Except number 3... Like Dumb and Dumberer, that one doesn't exist) in order to make fun the film's very apparent flaws.
Honestly, what really made me laugh the most was the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. They work together so well and have everything timed down so perfectly that even the non-funny jokes got a chuckle out of me. Stellar performances can make even the shittiest of scripts look like they were written by fucking Shakespeare. I'm not saying this movie was poorly written, I'm just saying that Hill and Tatum do such an amazing job that it made some of the weaker parts look better... Know what I'm saying?
I do. Two movies in and you really believe that the leads grew up together as brothers. The emotions of love and loss between the two feel real to even the most casual movie watcher. Apart from the leads Ice cube continues to entertain as every minute he's on screen is a minute of awesomeness in this film. Though besides those 3, the rest of the characters aren't really given anything to do... You got your misunderstood jock and your love interest, these characters were so flat that casting the corpses of Gene Kelley and Judy Garland would've given a similar performance. Those two are dead right?
Anyways this doesn't really hinder anything since we don't give two shits about these characters. It's their opposite actors (Tatum and Hill) that we care about.
I do. Two movies in and you really believe that the leads grew up together as brothers. The emotions of love and loss between the two feel real to even the most casual movie watcher. Apart from the leads Ice cube continues to entertain as every minute he's on screen is a minute of awesomeness in this film. Though besides those 3, the rest of the characters aren't really given anything to do... You got your misunderstood jock and your love interest, these characters were so flat that casting the corpses of Gene Kelley and Judy Garland would've given a similar performance. Those two are dead right?
Anyways this doesn't really hinder anything since we don't give two shits about these characters. It's their opposite actors (Tatum and Hill) that we care about.
Yeah, especially Channing Tatum... Like... I'm not gay or anything... But I'd totally s*ck his d*ck...
Riiiiight.... So this is very much a bromance in every sense of the word and the new hot shot directors, Chris Miller and Phil Lord, very easily are able to convey this feeling while moving the plot along at a solid pace with much better cohesiveness than we saw in 21 Jump Street, the only real flaw I saw in the original.
How good is this dynamic duo? Well you've heard me and my counterpart talk about how good 22 Jump Street has been thus far and one can argue it is the WORST movie in their filmography which includes 21 Jump Street, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, and the surprise hit of the year The LEGO Movie.
How good is this dynamic duo? Well you've heard me and my counterpart talk about how good 22 Jump Street has been thus far and one can argue it is the WORST movie in their filmography which includes 21 Jump Street, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, and the surprise hit of the year The LEGO Movie.
Well I've never seen Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but that's a pretty damn good resume! To have two hit movies (both commercially and critically) in the same year is unheard of so hats of to them... Although I do see that they're signed on to do an Alvin & The Chipmunks movie so that fire might burn out really fast... Guhhhh I just wish those chipmunks would die!!!
They do a solid directing job here though. There's not much shaky cam goin on here, which is great because that craze needs to go away and never come back. There were a few instances where you KNEW the scene was green screened, like when Tatum and Hill were hanging from a helicopter... Other than that, there's not much else I can say about their directing job than it was solid... And it's easily their second best directing job
Of the year!
So yeah, the highlights for me was the chemistry between the two leads... And a certain cameo at the end, I won't give it away, but anyone who's aware Hollywood inside jokes will laugh hysterically at the cameo!
So I guess final thoughts? I'll start. I found 22 Jump Street to be a step below 21 Jump Street, though it wasn't much of a fall. They relied too much on stale jokes, but they had enough to keep you laughing as the plot moved itself along but even then it really didn't do anything to distance itself from other summer comedies Neighbours and A Million Ways To Die In The West to my surprise. I give it 4 out of a 5... I dunno... Something Cool's.
Don't even get me started on A Million Ways to Die in the West dude! Just... Guhhhh Fuck Seth MacFarlane! That movie was on par with anything Happy Madison has done in the last 10 years.... It couldn't lace Blazing Saddles' jockstrap!!!!
So I guess final thoughts? I'll start. I found 22 Jump Street to be a step below 21 Jump Street, though it wasn't much of a fall. They relied too much on stale jokes, but they had enough to keep you laughing as the plot moved itself along but even then it really didn't do anything to distance itself from other summer comedies Neighbours and A Million Ways To Die In The West to my surprise. I give it 4 out of a 5... I dunno... Something Cool's.
Don't even get me started on A Million Ways to Die in the West dude! Just... Guhhhh Fuck Seth MacFarlane! That movie was on par with anything Happy Madison has done in the last 10 years.... It couldn't lace Blazing Saddles' jockstrap!!!!
Anyways, I thought 22 was on par with 21, the jokes were great, the chemistry between Hill and Tatum are great, Ice Cube is cool, the cameos are cool, and I really liked how the movie played on the fact that it was a complete rehash. All in all, this movie is a lot of fun and a lot of laughs!
I'm giving it 8.9 Shots in Channing Tatums Shoulder out of 10!
Well there you have it our review of 22 Jump Street. Remember to check us out at our other blogs for more fun film reviews as well as some other goodies.
Mike's Personal Blog
Donny's Personal Blog
Donny's Posts Over At Big B Comics
Well there you have it our review of 22 Jump Street. Remember to check us out at our other blogs for more fun film reviews as well as some other goodies.
Mike's Personal Blog
Donny's Personal Blog
Donny's Posts Over At Big B Comics
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