22 Jump Street

Sequels are hard to do. Most of the time they are unasked for and unneeded. A lot of time they are simply a cash grab, a rehashing of contrived storytelling. Some of the time they are truly awesome. And then there is 22 Jump Street, a strange mash up of these two types of sequel.



After Schmidt and Jenko were so successful with the 21 Jump Street program, Deputy Chief Hardy figures why do anything different? This time though they are too old for High School so they enroll in college to root out who is dealing a new drug called WHYPHY. They quickly fit into classic college stereotypes (the frat jock, the art nerd) and drift apart. It's a little familiar and a little different.

To anyone who thinks that because Phil Lord and Christopher Miller went from 21 Jump Street to The Lego Movie, 22 Jump Street would be less crass the the original let me so no, it really isn't. I believe they actually cranked it up in this sequel, like everything else in the movie. That said, if you laughed at the first one, you will die with this one. Especially at one twist about halfway through the movie that I won't dream of spoiling but I will say for like 15 minutes the theater I was in needed oxygen we were laughing so hard. To sum up, if you don't like crass don't watch, if you don't mind and want laughs, this is the movie for you.
B+