22 Jump Street, 2014.
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Nick Offerman, Amber Stevens, Peter Stormare, Wyatt Russell, Jillian Bell, Ashlyn McEvers, and Richard Grieco.
SYNOPSIS:
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college.
Quite evidently not simply resting on their laurels, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have seemingly created a monopoly over the finest comedies of recent years. In 22 Jump Street, the two have captured the anarchic tone of Animal House and the scatter shot, balls to the wall, joke a minute ideals of Airplane. As the film opens, Nick Offerman announces, “things are always worse the second time round.” So surprising first time round, writers Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman don’t simply rehash the jokes so expertly put together previously, instead choosing to directly mirror the plot with unbridled joy.
Opening with a callback to the television series, the audience find Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) forced to return to Jump Street in order to go undercover as college students to tackle a new drug labelled Why-Fhy. From there, the plot follows almost the same path as previously yet the film glimmers with a bizarre, almost post-modern self awareness; Tatum acknowledges White House Down and Step Up and there is a truly inspired cameo harking back to Ice Cube’s days as a member of NWA.
It’s a slight shame that character development is kept to a minimum. Schmidt stays unconfident, Jenko stays part jock/part moron and Ice Cube is nothing less than a dick. A series of inspired inflections in the script once again all but remove any sense of doubt, most evidently “dude it’s 2014, you can’t say faggot.” The lack of character development is an entirely passable offense due to the quite extraordinary consistency of jokes.
From the off, it’s milk-out-the-nose, wheezy cough funny. Like The LEGO Movie gone before, it’s a film demanding a second viewing not in order to further understand the plot, but to fully grasp every joke. Workaholics star Jillian Bell proves her worth, stretching-but not breaking-a joke for 90 minutes but it’s Tatum who once again pulls the string. So often maligned for the almost vacuous nature of his roles, he instead chooses to revel in idiocy.
By no means does this result in Hill being pushed to the side. Watching Schmidt perform slam poetry is one of of many stand out moments. As their relationship begins to strain under the weight of college, Jenko suggests that they “should investigate other people, sow our cop oats.” These moments are played seriously and work in a manner only appropriate for that of a film directed by Lord and Miller.
As previously, the supporting cast are strong with Peter Stormare chewing the scenery while Wyatt Russell (of Kurt Russell fame) proves playing dumb isn’t always a terrible thing. In fact, 22 Jump Street works best when dumb. A joke involving Cate Blanchett would more often than not fall flat, but Tatum’s deadpan delivery and the overarching audacity that surrounds the film creates one of the biggest laughs of the 105 minutes.
To many these 105 minutes may become stretched but few films have been as gleefully enjoyable as 22 Jump Street. Even Marvel should take note with the post-credits sequence possibly being the best thing to take place around the names of the art department. It’s been three days, I’m still laughing and I can expect to be laughing until the end of the year.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Thomas Harris
Originally published June 5, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
