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22 Jump Street

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Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 22 Jump Street (AP)
Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 22 Jump Street (AP)
What it's about:

After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college. But, when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now, they don't have to just crack the case—they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.

What we thought:

Let me set you straight right at the beginning; if you’re looking for a movie that has an intriguing plot and deep character development 22 Jump Street is not that.

It is pure, laugh out loud, mindless fun!

Following on the surprising success of the original, directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord set out to do it ‘exactly like the last time’ and they did; only this time around it was bigger, better and more expensive. Right from the beginning the film makers make it clear it will be exactly like the last time with an identical plot, the same character archetypes and yes, even the same type of jokes. They have no qualms at poking fun of how unoriginal ‘the sequel’ is and play up all the conventions of the buddy cop genre.

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill return as the cop duo Jenko and Schmidt. Still riding on the success of their big bust the first time around, the unit has relocated to a new office just across the road from their previous spot, a serious upgrade from their previous digs.

Their pissed off overworked police Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) sends them to college to uncover a drug ring. It’s the same assignment and he reiterates that they should do the exact same thing. For comedic effect this crops up repeatedly throughout the film.

At college, jock Jenko has no trouble fitting in with the ‘in crowd’. He joins the football team and a  fraternity and finds a kindred soul in Zook (Wyatt Russel). For Jenko, this is a replay of his glory high school days. Reliving his own real high school experience is Schmidt, who  doesn’t fit in and finds himself with the art crowd. He does have some lady luck though when he befriends Maya (Amber Stevens).

Jenko’s fast growing relationship with Zook causes a rift with Schmidt, ultimately resulting in the pair going their separate ways and investigating individual leads.

What makes this film so great to watch is the amazing chemistry between Tatum and Hill. Their on and off screen bromance add to the charm of the characters and their relationship. Ultimately this film is about their relationship and large parts of the movie focus on their ‘relationship woes.’

Tatum really comes into his own in this movie. He’s an adorable dumbness which is a delight to watch.  In one scene he says “I thought we had Cate Blanchett” meaning carte blanche.
Hill does what he does best with an unforgettable scene being  his improvised slam dunk poetry piece which had me laughing out loud for some moments after it was done.

Another performance worth mentioning is Jillian Bell. She is amazing! Her hard hitting one liners delivered with a straight face is pure genius.

One last thing you, have to stay for the credits of the movie, this finally nails 22 Jump Street as one of the best comedy movies to hit the circuit this year.

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