When Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum’s 21 Jump Street was released back in 2012, everyone branded it as just another one of those silly comedies which could have been really disappointing for both of their careers. Hill is now an Oscar nominated star and Tatum was beginning to prove that he was far more than just brawn, he definitely had the brains when it came to making some of career choices. However, 21 Jump Street was also a remake and with previous trends from Hollywood we know these kind of films rarely work but that wasn’t giving these guys enough credit.
21 Jump Street was one of those rarities. Made on a budge of just $42 million (we know it seems like a lot of money but not in Hollywood) the film managed to gross a whopping $204 million worldwide but it did so much more than just do well at the box office. The film produced an epic comic duo in the form of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, destroyed the myth about the remake being entirely rubbish and it managed to create a little bit of cult classic with endlessly quotable lines. To film a sequel and ruin the original was a big gamble, luckily that has also worked in their favour.
The film picks up where the original left off; Hill and Tatum have completed the task to bring down the drug dealer in high school and have been moved on to college, however not the type of college they were expecting, this is online college. Everything changes when the department realises that they must do everything exactly the same way as before (wink, wink) and send the pair off to actual college to bring down another drug dealer, a more dangerous and elusive one who is dealing in “wifi”, a drug that makes students focus for about four hours and then causes them to lose their minds for the rest of the night. Unlike the previous film, the duo are finding it slightly more difficult to source the supplier and dealer.
While Schmidt (Hill) was popular in High School, Jenko (Tatum) discovers that his football skills have landed him in the cool crowd but this also creates some problems when the pair discover that Jenko’s new football bestie in the form of Zook may just be the dealer on campus that they are looking for. Jenko’s unwillingness to assume that Zook is the root of their problem brings the pair’s partnership into question throwing not only the case into jeopardy but also their friendship.
Firstly and perhaps most importantly, 22 Jump Street is just as funny as 21 which is an excellent pay-off for the wait in the lead up to the sequel. Directed by the duo who brought you the hilarious Lego Movie, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the film is filled to the brim with hilarious sequel jokes and plenty of brilliant gags, in particular the moment when Jenko realises that Schmidt has slept with somebody he probably shouldn’t have and when Schmidt decides to compose a slam poem on stage. Hill and Tatum prove yet again that they are an amazing comic pairing, their over-and-back just works brilliantly.
For the most part, the plot is pretty much exactly the same as the original with some obvious changes for comic effect, namely the sequel jokes we mentioned and making one half of the team more popular than the other. The love interest has also dramatically changed for effect and certainly brings some of the biggest laughs across the course of the film.
If there is one criticism of 22 Jump Street it would be that the plot takes over a little towards the end and drags the film out just a little bit too much. However, this is only a slight issue for what is just another brilliant comedy. Dare we say it, we hope there’s another instalment.
Make sure you stay for the end credits, they are also entirely worth it.
