Nerd Movie Reviews

22 Jump Street Review #22jumpstreet

A really funny movie with good characters.  Too bad they wasted the R rating on language.

I’ve seen an ugly trend in film marketing and that is most film trailers pick clean all the best lines and moments from a film leaving us with the dregs and recycled remnants to process like a raccoon digging through the garbage.  I’ve developed a serious dislike of trailers for this reason and since I see pretty much every film and have a decent memory it tends to drag down my enjoyment of most features.  I sometimes wish I were more the complete sociopath most people assume I am and were willing to watch something on my smart phone until the movie starts.

The point is this film managed to avoid that issue by first of all having so many great, funny moments that you don’t begrudge having seen a couple previously and secondly by taking a lot of the trailer off the footage that never made the final cut.  In the past I resented that but these days I’m quite glad.  It avoids having all the steam taken from the film and gives me a little more to see than the basic run time of the film.  If I really care about the missing scenes I’m sure eventually they will come out with 22 Jump Street the Directors Cut (or at least put the scenes on the added features of the DvD release).

So I laughed a lot at this film.  It was very funny and knew enough about how much sequels suck to make a lot of fun of itself.  That level of humorous self awareness is a rarity in Hollywood these days and quite refreshing.  The characters from 21 Jump Street are back and even more intriguing now that I know them.  The tongue-in-cheek humor was still present (albeit considerably less subtle than the last film).  Plus while I hated my high school experience like I would a four year root canal sans Novocaine I quite enjoyed college (I almost got laid twice.  One of the two was super religious and the other was technically a lesbian, but close twice is infinitely better than close zero.  Not bad for seven years) and therefore was better able to connect with the characters.

I was also really entertained by Ice Cube of all people.  He was a great supporting character in the first film but in this one he more or less runs away with the entire movie.  He dominates every scene he is in and is really, really funny.  I also liked him a lot in Ride Along so I guess he’s turning into one of my favorite actors.  Two good roles in a row is more than most people get in their lives.  I’m wondering if he’s just becoming a better actor or if casting people have better figured out what roles he works best in.

Of course this film is not perfect and I can find a bunch of things to pick at.  The writers have jumped on board the “Humor through Repetition” bandwagon that is now dominating the Hollywood comedy scene.  Jokes that were kind of funny the first time do not get funnier after being dragged out for 20 minutes and then repeated later.  Pacing was also off.  There were a few scenes that really could have used a fast forward button.  And of course my old pet peeve: if you are going to do a rated R comedy (especially one that seems to be a lighter weight version of Animal House) take the opportunity to throw in some nudity.  They did spring break in Mexico and I don’t think I saw even a revealing bikini the whole time.  As bad is it was as a film at least Spring Breakers took every opportunity to show topless girls slow motion dancing while being sprayed with beer bottles and the moisture beading on their hot perfect skin like flawless sexy diamonds on the softest…

Sorry what was I doing here?  Oh yeah.  22 Jump Street review.  Funny in spite of all those issues.  I laughed a lot and so did the rest of the audience.  The humor was non stop and well written.  The story was tertiary at best but adequately served as the mundane plow horse dragging a furrow in which seeds of comedy were sown.  Everyone nailed their character (even the creepy roommate of the love interest).

The story.  Schmidt (Jonah Hill-Wolf of Wall Street, This is the End,  Moneyball) and Jenko (Channing Tatum-White House Down, the Vow, Side Effects) are back, working as some kind of free lance cops who run around solving random crimes like the Scooby Doo gang in a Ford Mustang.  They get into it with criminals importing illegal exotic animals headed by the Ghost (Peter Stormare-Fargo, Bad Boys II, Armageddon) and fail to catch them in a chase scene that feels grossly cut down (I’m not kidding.  There was about 10 scenes from this chase in the trailer that never make it into the movie).

They get called on the carpet by their boss Deputy Chief Hardy (the great Nick Offerman-Parks & Rec, We’re the Millers, Sin City) and told that the reason they failed was because they did not do exactly what they did the first time (this was one of many, many jokes about sequels.  Honestly they were for the most part really funny and the only running gag that didn’t bore me to tears by the end of the film.  However, eventually you will feel like your face has been ground into it) and is therefore reinstating the Jump Street program.  Unfortunately the 21 Jump Street building has been sold and they have to go across the street to 22 Jump Street (oh, I see what they did there).

There they meet up with their boss Captain Dickson (Ice Cube-Boyz in the Hood, Ride Along, Friday) in his fabulous new Apple Store office (looking almost like a “cube of ice” as Schmidt puts it) and told they are going to college to find a new designer drug exactly like last time.  They head off and dorm up, meeting their accross the hall neighbors (The Lucas Brothers).  They attend class and more or less fail at everything while pursuing leads.  Schmidt does some slam poetry (anyone else remember So I Married an Axe Murderess?  Seems like the writers do) and meets a hot black girl (Amber Stevens-the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Greek, the Amazing Spider-Man).  Jenko meets his soul brother Zook (Wyatt Russell-Cold in July, Cowboys & Aliens, Love and Honor) who gets them both to rush his frat.

In this Jenko excels and he and Zook become great friends while getting drunk as hell (drinking image courtesy of the Funny t shirt category).  Meanwhile Schmidt hooks up with Maya with unexpected results.  There are lots of twists, homo-erotic jokes, a really awkward fight, and more slow motion walking.  The action is even more tertiary than last time but that is good as at least this film did not try to shift gears from comedy to action film.

The stars:

Honestly very funny.  Three stars.  Ice Cube was freaking awesome.  One star.  Everyone else was good.  One star.  They kept a lot of the character tone from the first film without tweaking it too much.  Jonah and Channing are a bizarrely good team up.  One star.  The scene where Schmidt and Jenko trip on drugs was super hilarious.  One star.  Tons of hidden Easter Eggs and call backs that all were super fun.  One star.  In general a good time well worth my money.  Two stars.  Total: ten stars.

The black holes:

Pacing dragged at times.  They could have cut 15 minutes of the 112 and been better.  Sometimes less is more.  One black hole.  In addition some of the lamer jokes got dragged on and on.  OK, we get it.  Jenko and Schmidt are like a gay married couple.  Funny joke for the first five minutes.  Give it a rest and find something else funny.  One black hole.  A rated R comedy set in college and not a bare boob or bikini in sight.  Even the one sex scene faded to black.  One black hole.  Total: three black holes.

So a total of seven stars.  Very solid film.  I would definitely see it if I had not already seen it (kind of a paradox.  I would see it based on my own recommendation established by actually having seen it?  Not going to sleep tonight…).  Date movie?  Sure, no problem there.  The girls in this film wear more clothes than some nuns and the constant discussion of their feelings around Schmidt and Jenko’s “relationship” might give her hope that one day you will open up about your emotions like a chick.  Should put her in a loving mood on some level, and if it doesn’t at least you have watched a really funny movie.  Win/win.  Bathroom break?  Well, no scene with Ice Cube in it.  I’d say go right after they break up and Schmidt is back in uniform.  Not a lot goes on there.

Thanks for reading as always.  I don’t think I’ll see anything tonight but will see the new dragon movie soon.  Look for my “flawless” list tomorrow.  I’m quite pleased with it.  Follow me on Twitter @NerdKungFu and post comments on this review here.  Off topic questions or suggestions can go to [email protected].  Thanks again and have a great day.

the Infamous Dave Inman