Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) are sent to college to stop the dealer of a new drug called ‘Whyphy’.
Here are a few bullet points you need to know about 22 Jump Street:
- It is basically the same movie as the 21 Jump Street, only in college instead of high school.
- I actually went to see a film starring Channing Tatum in the theater.
- I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed my ass off at a Channing Tatum movie.
- I actually went to see a Channing Tatum film IN THE THEATER! (I cannot stress that point enough).
I have talked a lot of shit about Channing Tatum on this site over the last couple of years. And that crow that I had to eat (and a lot of it) wasn’t easy to swallow. It has been swallowed, though, good and digested, and now pooped out and been flushed down the porcelain god. I can finally accept that I actually like Channing Tatum. And why is it that I like Channing Tatum now? There are 2 reasons. 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street.
I didn’t see the first film until roughly 5 or 6 months ago. I had been avoiding it like the plague. I couldn’t stand the Tatum since the debacle that was G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, an immensely terrible film that I was unable to watch all the way through, even when drunk. Tatum took the brunt of the scorn aimed at that film, especially from me. (I am still not going to re-attempt to watch it). I acquired 21 Jump Street at a ‘buy 1, get one free’ sale around Black Friday last year. I watched it and loved it. I have watched it 3 or 4 times now. It is frakin’ hilarious.
What we’re looking at in this sequel is essentially the same film, with a bigger budget and the cast and directors in on the blockbuster sequel-itis. They continually make jokes about the bigger budget, even going so far as crashing into an ATM, money flying everywhere while the look on Peter Stormare’s face is priceless as he giggles. Instead of 
Korean Jesus, this time they have Vietnamese Jesus, because he has more bling. Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) hollers that he is wearing $800 shoes and no one can see them because they are hidden behind his desk. Jenko and Schmidt have better equipment that is commented on. Yes, this sequel is bigger than the first, even though it recycles a lot of the same gags from the first film. Yes, they are still funny. Very, very funny. I was in tears through a lot of the film from laughing so hard.
While the film does come across as a little bit lazy in the recycling of the plot, that is also covered in the film. They make jokes about ‘doing the same thing. The exact SAME thing they did the first time around’. It just seems a little bit lazy, but there is a small bit of cleverness mixed in there. The directors know what worked the first time around and instead of going off the reservation with this sequel, they cleverly incorporated many new jokes at the expense of the recycled plot. And let’s admit it, plot is not the big thing people are looking for when going to see this film. They are going to see what hi-jinks ensue when Jenko and Schmidt bumble their way through an investigation in college.
Ice Cube also gets more time to chew up the screen this time around, and that is never a bad thing. He has two scenes that are particularly funny, including him tearing up a buffet, and another that I will not spoil.
22 Jump Street is that rare sequel that may actually be funnier than the first film. While it is not a better movie, it is funnier. I enjoyed every minute with this film and it will be a day one Blu-Ray purchase for me. It is also another knockout in a summer of great films, including X-Men: Days of Future Past and Edge of Tomorrow. Yes, this is worth seeing. A lot.
***1/2 out of ****
BIZZAM!! Fun Facts!
- In a car chase near the end of the film, there is an amazingly funny moment where they pay homage to the great Benny Hill by driving past the ‘Benjamin J. Hill School for Cinema Studies’. When yousee it, and if you know who Benny Hill is, you will crack up. I think I was the only who in the audience who knew, though.
- At one point, Tatum suggest their next mission should be as Secret Service agents. Ice Cube and Hill say it’s a bad idea, while Tatum mumbles he likes it. Yes, that is a jab at last summer’s White House Down, starring Tatum.
- Near the end of the film, Hill is driving a Lamborghini and as he skids to a stop he yells ‘Tokyo Drift’. When he gets of of the car, he says that was ‘too fast, too furious’. That is an obvious reference to the Fast and Furious films.
