'22 Jump Street': A Rare Hilarious Sequel

The hilarious Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum team up again for 22 Jump Street, the sequel to their surprise hit 21 Jump Street. With 22 Jump Street, directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord manage to debunk the idea that sequels cannot live up to the original movie: 22 Jump Street is just as funny, maybe even funnier, than 21 Jump Street.

To refresh the audience’s memory, the movie begins with short clips from 21 Jump Street. For the sequel, the offices of the ‘Jump Street’ program have simply moved across the street from its prior location at 21 Jump Street to 22 Jump Street. Viewers get a tease that there will be a third movie when they see a sign next to 21 Jump Street that says “23 Jump Street: Coming Soon.” Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) are first assigned to an online college, but are later sent as undercover students to college in order to put an end to the spreading of a new drug called “WHYPHY” after a student dies. Captain Dickson, played wonderfully by Ice Cube, instructs Schmidt and Jenko to do the same exact thing they did to stop the drugs from spreading at the high school in 21 Jump Street.

Just like in the previous movie, Schmidt and Jenko make friends while undercover as the McQuaid brothers. They party with the students, Jenko joins the football team and Schmidt forms another relationship with a female student, similar to what happened in 21 Jump Street.

One of the best parts of the film is the ending, when ridiculous sequels to the movie are shown. This may mean that the referral to a 23 Jump Street was simply a joke, but the other fake movie titles brought the whole audience to hysterical laughter. The movie jokes about having about 10 more movies come out. It shows Jenko and Schmidt going undercover at culinary school, dance school and a nursing home. One of the fake movies shows Seth Rogen replacing Hill due to a contract dispute, poking fun at the similarities between the two comedians.

The casting and writing in this movie are so perfect that they manage to make a sequel that has an incredibly similar story line to the original just as interesting and funny. Ice Cube’s role in the film is definitely more prominent and he, at times, is the best character on the screen. His no nonsense attitude juxtaposed against Jenko’s lightheartedness and Schmidt’s silliness makes for a perfect trio, and there was no better person to play those roles than the actors who played them. After seeing how the directors were able to make the sequel equally amazing, fans should be hopeful about a 23 Jump Street.