22 Jump Street

Not as good as the first, but still damn funny

We rejoin Schmidt and Jenko, now back to doing actual police work. It turns out that they still suck at real police work so they Re-restart the "jump street program" only this time they are in college. There isn't much new in terms of story line here so that is pretty much the synopsis. New drug, same cover, only difference is that they are in college. Done and done.

So, since the story line is basically the same, I don't think I can gauge this movie on those credentials. If it worked the first time it works this time. They play around with opposites a lot (like instead of Schmidt growing distant, this time it is Jenko). The real thing we always have to gauge a comedy on is: if it was funny. Yes, this movie was very friggin' funny. They are very self aware about this movie being a sequel, and poke fun at them selves often. Breaking the fourth wall with dialogue instead of actually looking at the camera. There is a lot more Ice Cube in this, and he has some of the greatest moments of the movie. It obviously isn't going to be as good as the first, but it came damn close to it (again they admitted to this in the dialogue). There isn't really a lot of shock humor (which I appreciate), it is more of the same type of humor from the first, only this time it is more like they are parodying the first movie. Jokes about their budget, jokes about their past adventure, jokes about Ice Cube. All very funny.

The acting is exactly the same as the first movie. Jonah and Channing play well off of each other. Ice cube steals the spotlight at points, and the new boys aren't exactly as funny as the original cast but they have their moments. Wyatt Russell and Jimmy Tatro do okay as Jenko's new buddies, but it was a lot funnier when he was playing the nerd in high school as opposed to reverting back into a jock/frat guy. Amber Stevens does okay as the replacement for Brie Larson, but they are interchangeable even though Amber's character has the superior back story. Kenny and Keith Lucas are a welcome addition even though I never heard of them before this movie. They couldn't have picked a better break out role.

I could sit here and talk about the improving effects, the additional assets gained for this movie; but, it is really just the same thing that they did before, and there is nothing wrong with that.  I saw this with a friend that had never seen the first movie, and I highly suggest that you watch the first movie before going to see this, because a high amount of jokes are dependent upon the original movie. The good news is that this out performed "Blended" and "A Million Ways to Die in the West" (not that it was a hard task to begin with).  So I no longer have to worry about a world where those two movies might be the second funnies comedy of any year.

Final Verdict: See it in theaters Short review, because this is very simple "If you saw the first and liked it, you will like the second". Some missteps on the jokes kept it from my top spot, and the fact that it wasn't as good as the first.