22 Jump Street (2014)

22-jump-streetWhat do you do when your friendship hits a rocky spot? In June 2014, Jenko and Schmidt’s bromance has hit that a rough patch, but they’ll have to figure it out later because crime does not wait.

Directing this 112 minute action/comedy/crime is Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Tearing it up is: Channing Tatum as Jenko, Jonah Hill as Schmidt, Amber Stevens as Maya, Wyatt Russell as Zook, Jilian Bell as Mercedes, Ice Cube as Captain Dickson, Peter Stormare as The Ghost.

There’s a new drug about to hit the streets called WHYPHY. It’s popped up in a college, so it’s up to Jenko and Schmidt to go undercover and figure out who’s dealing it before it has the chance to spread to every school.

Alright, I’ll admit that I did like the first movie, 21 Jump Street (2012), but I grew up watching the television show 21 Jump Street (1987), which the movies are based off of. So when I heard they were making a movie I thought this could be cool. Well, it was funny. I don’t know about cool per say, but I liked it never the less. Then like (almost) all the movies lately, news hit about the sequel and how the cast was returning to make another go at it. I can’t say I was biting at the bit to catch this one, but I was curious… so here we go.

Something I didn’t know was, apparently, Jonah Hill had a hand in co-writing the story with Michael Bacall. Then, writers Michael Bacall, Rodney Rothman and Oren Uziel got together and delivered a script that sends our two young-ish police officers, Jenko and Schmidt, undercover to catch some bad guys… just like the first one; which, I have to say, I kind of expected.

For one, it’s based off a t.v. show that sent young cops undercover, and two, what else are they going to do, become security guards? So yeah, the storyline isn’t new. They did change a few things up a little bit. Not too much, because then they would risk losing the formula that worked so well in the first film. I liked the storyline because of the changes they made: This time around you get to see the characters grow up a bit, while still being just as funny and entertaining as in the first one.

22-jump-street-still

The playthrough held my attention the entire time and I can’t say I was ever bored during it. Between the jokes or gags and the story, you always have something going on and it keeps a good pace all the way through. If you’ve seen the first movie, then you have an idea of the kind of humor they went for in this one. If not, then expect a lot of sex jokes/references, drug use and foul language.

The cast was good, for the most part. A few of the characters came off a little annoying or boring but they weren’t a big enough part to really bother anything. Now as for Tatum and Hill, I have to say those guys did a great job. Not only does the killer chemistry they have shine on screen, but it makes the movie even better. Which was one of the things I liked about the first film, and it was even better this time around. I’ve never really been a Tatum fan but I’m finding I like him in comedies. While Hill’s work as always been a hit or miss kind of thing for me. This time definitely fell into the hit category. Then you have Cube playing… well, Cube. I’ve not really noticed a difference from this character to any of the others I’ve seen him play.

Side note, one of the things that I thought was cool in the first film was the cameos from the cast of the television show. Well, they did it again, so keep an eye out and see if you can catch the cameos of Richard Greico and Dustin Nguyen.

Summary : It's a slight repeat of the first film. Just in a different location which opens things up for some new jokes and a revisit to a few of the old ones as well. As much as I really liked this one, I wouldn't pay the theater prices to catch it. Mainly because it's just like the first one with a different cover and more laughs. As a rental I'd be all over it, but it doesn't have any big special effects that make it a "must" see on the big screen.

It's rated R for language and violence.


Rating


Average

4