Above: Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum return in "22 Jump Street"
I feel like nobody really saw 2012’s
“21 Jump Street” coming. It could have
easily been a half-assed, crude buddy-cop venture commissioned because its name
was familiar; instead, it turned out to be a clever, funny take on both cop and
high school movies, bolstered by strong script, good directors, and a great,
unlikely pair of lead actors. Hell, it’s
the movie that convinced me Channing Tatum WAS an actor, as I had not yet seen
him act in films up to that point—just say words and do things while someone
pointed a camera at him.
When “21 Jump Street” became a box-office
hit, a sequel seemed inevitable. And the
results are, surprisingly, as good as the first one. “22 Jump Street” lives up to the promise of
its predecessor, with cops Jenko (Mr. Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill)
investigating a synthetic drug being developed at a local college campus. In a not-terribly-subtle lean against the
fourth wall, their superiors (Ice Cube, Nick Offerman) assure them that they’re
there “to do the same thing they did the first time, just with a bigger
budget.” However, the case does turn out
to be different in its own subtle ways, partially due to Schmidt’s growing
dependency on his friend and Jenko's desire to pull away, which threatens to
drive a wedge between the two friends.
Since “22 Jump Street” is the work of
the talented directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (whose recent film,
“The Lego Movie,” I also reviewed for this site), it’s no surprise that it entertains.
And in addition, Mr. Hill and Mr. Tatum
still have a strong chemistry, and it’s fun seeing Ice Cube chew the scenery as
their short-tempered boss (there’s also some juicy cameos from the likes of
Patton Oswalt, Queen Latifah, and Marc Evan Jackson). Most of the new players (like Wyatt Russell as
a meat-headed jock and Amber Stevens as a clever art student) aren’t given much
to do, but their main job is to bounce off our two leads—something they
accomplish with aplomb.
If there’s any downside to the film,
it’s that not all of the comedy lands; in particular, the self-aware “this is a
sequel” jokes grow tiresome. However,
this is turned around in an extended credits gag that is honestly the highlight
of the movie. Overall, “22 Jump Street” is a blast—if you liked the first one,
you should definitely go check this movie out.
No comments:
Post a Comment