22 Jump Street [MA]

With the success of their last mission, Schmidt and Jenko breathed new life into the undercover operation from the 80s known as ‘Jump Street’. When a new drug hits the campus of a college, the boys are told to just do the same as they did last time, infiltrate the dealer and find the supplier. But after a couple of days into the case, the boys soon realise that nothing in this case is the same as last time, for a start college kids are smarter than high school kids, their information turns out to be all wrong, and their partnership begins to suffer serious strain when Jenko makes a new friend that could take Schmidt’s place. 

It’s the truth known universally that sequels never promise to be as good as their predecessors, once in a while you’ll get the diamond that is. 22 Jump Street is a diamond. Quite possibly better than 21 Jump Street, as it’s packed with a stronger friendship story, a lot of unexpected plot twists, and more intrigue of practically all kinds. 

With the success of their last mission, Schmidt and Jenko breathed new life into the undercover operation from the 80s known as ‘Jump Street’. When a new drug hits the campus of a college, the boys are told to just do the same as they did last time, infiltrate the dealer and find the supplier. But after a couple of days into the case, the boys soon realise that nothing in this case is the same as last time, for a start college kids are smarter than high school kids, their information turns out to be all wrong, and their partnership begins to suffer serious strain when Jenko makes a new friend that could take Schmidt’s place. 

I found this movie to be funnier, cleverer, and boasting more breadth than its predecessor. The writing is very good with numerous metafictive comments being made throughout the movie about its status as a sequel. Metafiction, in my opinion, is one of the greatest tools at a writer’s disposal because it changes the experience of watching a film completely, as it makes it more inclusive and oftentimes voices exactly what the audience is thinking. It brings it to a new level in that the audience is still getting that visual pleasure of looking into another world, but at the same time there are hints that the inhabitants of that world know they are being watched and therefore, the vibe and the enjoyment changes. 

The bromance/friendship story between Schmidt and Jenko gets bumped up to a new level in this film and goes through a more mature and dramatic bout of strife. Numerous homosexual references are used to mirror the ‘brotherhood’ that our boys share, but it’s actually done quite tastefully and without any degrading or vulgar sexist or homophobic hints. I actually really enjoyed seeing this, particularly in this type of movie where a lot of the comedy comes from sex gags and badass action humour. There’s a level of maturity and a refine-ness that shines through and it’s quite good actually. 

Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens, Jillian Bell, The Lucas Brothers, Nick Offerman, Jimmy Tatro, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Peter Stormare, Ice Cube, and featuring surprise appearances by Anna Farris, Bill Hader, Seth Rogan, and Queen Latifah, 22 Jump Street is a highly enjoyable movie that I liked even better than the first. Filled with action, friendship, drama, comedy, plot twists, and plenty of comedy, it’s a really good movie and if you liked the first one, then you’ll love this.