22 Jump Street (2014)

Posted on July 30, 2014 by emmakwall

22 Jump Street film review

Having enjoyed 21 Jump Street (2012) I was more than happy to sit and watch the sequel which came out earlier this year. I expected it to be a bit of fun with some pretty funny jokes – EXACTLY like the first one.

As I have an aversion to sitting still for too long I did what I always do when going to the cinema – did some IMDB’ing to see what the film duration was and I was more than a little surprised to find it was two hours long. That’s rather a long time to be giggling at teen high jinks after the obligatory five years of trailers and Kevin Bacon adverts.

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I watched the trailer and laughed a bit. I enjoy silly things the most (both guys walking through a doorway impressively then banging shoulders and getting stuck – that kind of thing makes me giggle because I am VERY immature). But seeing the squid wrapped round Jonah Hill’s head as he ‘fought’ it off made me cringe slightly and I began to prepare myself for a longer, cornier and more over-the-top film than it’s predecessor.

But I was wrong. 22 Jump Street is absolutely fine. A sturdy sequel which cleverly mocks itself as a………..sequel. The writers and directors (look them up, there’s too many to mention) did a really good job and rather than my predicted fear of a corny movie, they took the best elements from 21 Jump Street and certainly made something that is at least on par. The college setting actually works better than school. Though the story line is essentially EXACTLY the same (something they poke fun at) the supporting characters and backdrop just seem to fit better. They are allowed to drink beer, they are allowed to shag girls and whilst these things don’t majorly matter on their own they do contribute to some really good scenes during the movie.

The bromance between Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) was further developed in this film, with super results reminiscent a little of Hot Fuzz (or indeed, any real life buddy cop action movie). The friendship between the two is one of the best elements to both films and the chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is great – both actors showing a real aptitude for comedy and comic timing.

Ice Cube, clearly popular from the first movie, has more of a role in this film with some fantastic Angry Black Dude one liners. Some of the scenes in the new “22” headquarters are really funny.

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Something else I noticed (and liked) about the movie was a lack of gratuitous scenes. The words ‘college’ and ‘students’ usually conjures up images of frat parties, naked girls and American Pie style shenanigans like fucking pies and sticking a flute up your jacksie and such larks. Whilst I have nothing against stuff like that in movies it’s undeniably refreshing when you don’t constantly see a pair of fake tits being waved in your face. Of course I have little to no objection to Channing Tatum getting his guns out whilst the sun’s out and quite prepared to admit to being an awful hypocrite.

So to summarise, 22 Jump Street is likable and funny. Sometimes it’s the littlest things that made me laugh and I’m looking forward to watching it again. It’s well written, certainly well acted and impossible not to enjoy (unless you’re a complete pretentious snob who can’t enjoy anything that David Lynch hasn’t made – yeah you know who I mean).

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About emmakwall

Films, books, soundtracks, good humour
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32 Responses to 22 Jump Street (2014)

  1. vinnieh says:
    June 12, 2015 at 13:54

    Great review, this movie cracked me up so much. Channing Tatum really made me laugh.

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  2. That Moment In says:
    May 23, 2015 at 11:55

    Yet to see this! Really enjoyed the first one. If you laughed, then I know I will, ‘cuz we are basically the same.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. belowaveragewriter says:
    May 14, 2015 at 08:43

    “He fucked the captain’s daughter!”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • emmakwall says:
      May 14, 2015 at 12:21

      Hahaha!!!!!! I loved this film so much!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • belowaveragewriter says:
        May 14, 2015 at 16:34

        I can never decide if I like 21 jump street or 22 jump street?! Lol

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
        • emmakwall says:
          May 18, 2015 at 10:55

          That’s so weird because in the last week I’ve watched both and now can definitely say I think 21 Jump Street IS better.

          When I first watched 22 Jump Street I actually thought it was superior and funnier. But since watching it again and 21 Jump Street shortly beforehand, I really do think it lacks a lot of the humour from the first one and it’s just not quite as good. It seems sillier and I think Schmidt being popular (and Jenko being a nerd) worked better than Jenko being popular and Schmit being the nerd!

          Sorry for overlong answer haha.

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  4. belowaveragewriter says:
    May 14, 2015 at 08:43

    Liked by 1 person

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Any thoughts?