21 Jump Street was a surprise comedy hit that ably matched crude gags with engaging characters. Arriving a mere two years later, 22 Jump Street is also startling. One might have anticipated a hurried, by-the-numbers follow-up. Yet this effort doesn’t fell prey to the expected sequel tropes. It’s certainly familiar, but the returning cast and crew bring enough new material to supply more than the required laughs. It’s a worthy follow-up.
After a sting operation goes wrong, detectives Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are sent back to Jump Street and Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) for a new undercover assignment at a University. The officers must enroll and assimilate with the student body in order to identify and arrest the dealer responsible for a new and deadly drug. Of course, it’s not an easy task when the leads look a good fifteen years older than their schoolmates (a fact frequently brought to their attention by just about everyone they come into contact with).
While the story isn’t dramatically different from its predecessor, the cast and crew do not rest on their laurels. They’ve got plenty of fresh material to work with by parodying college life. Schmidt and Jenko find the experience very different from their high school redo. Over the course of the film, each meet like-minded individuals and begin to form new personal connections in different cliques. In the process, they find their own “bromance” becoming stale and routine. It isn’t long before the two begin growing apart and bickering – this results in some very funny scenes that include an impromptu couples therapy session with a school psychologist.
Along the way, they come into contact with various oddball professors and unusual students who all serve as potential suspects. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) also make sure keep the expected jokes coming at a rapid pace. Whether they’re self-referential nods to the original television show and first movie (including another enjoyably trippy drug freak out), modern pop culture references or observational humor based on the specific situation at hand, it’s largely effective. And although the movie is a little shaggy from incorporating a number improvisational moments, it never lags for very long.
In addition to the great banter between Hill and Tatum, there’s plenty of solid turns by the co-stars. Ice Cube is given a bigger role and one of the film’s funniest subplots that won’t be revealed in this review. It’s a silly and crude gag, but the cast make it work. And the movie features plenty of surprise cameos that should bring smiles. Be sure not to leave the theater early. The lengthy end credit sequence is one of the film’s comedic highlights, satirizing and savaging Hollywood sequels in equal measure.
Sure, 22 Jump Street may not possess the same novelty that the made the first film such a pleasant surprise, nor may not garner quite as many laughs. However, it is consistently funny and when it’s firing on all cylinders, it is downright hilarious. In the end, this sequel is about as strong as any fan of the original film could possibly hope for.