Beth Webb - Events EditorPhil Lord and Christopher Miller can’t seem to put a foot wrong. Their clever and colourful catalogue to date are littered with box office surprises, including The Lego Movie and the mouth watering Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel.
Their non-animated debut however proved to be their biggest surprise, with its clever bromance comedy based loosely on the 80s cop show 21 Jump Street. Such was the success of 21, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum return as Jenko and Schmidt in 22 Jump Street this Summer and they are making no excuses for sticking to the inevitable sequel formula.
The boys’ second assignment sees them heading to college, again to bust an undercover drugs operation. This repetitive plotline is handled beautifully by Nick Offerman‘s Deputy Chief, who disbelievingly reports that 21 Jump Street did so well that a second and more expensive adventure has been commissioned.
22 Jump Street is essentially more of the same. High School parties are replaced by frat parties, and the sweet and clever Brie Larson is replaced by the equally sweet and clever Amber Stevens as Schmidt’s unlikely mate, but otherwise expect plenty of people getting hurt comically, hints of homoeroticism and lashings of idiocy as witnessed in the original.
With Tatum’s comedic qualities well and truly recognised Jenko’s character has become far more physical, and any opportunity to display his slower nature is pounced upon. Hill, who penned stories for both the first and second instalments continues to flesh out Schmidt’s needy, quick talking Schmidt with ease, eradicating any hard feelings at the plot’s tired twists and turns.
There is plenty a hole to pick here; an excessive running time, the blatant abandonment of any adventurous new storylines, just a few too many genital jokes. Such is the appeal of Tatum and Hill however and their oddball duo that it’s in your best interest to bask in the glow of their predictable brilliance. Also with a credit sequence that good you will struggle to remember anything else.
