Review: 22 Jump Street

Same as last time, except they’re posing as college students to stop a drug dealer. Hey, don’t blame me, the characters themselves talk non-stop about this being the same damn film, and it’s true. Wyatt Russell plays a dim star football player who has an awkward relationship…or something with Channing Tatum’s Jenko, but might also be the culprit. Amber Stevens is the pretty college girl that Jonah Hill’s nerdy Schmidt falls for. Peter Stormare phones it in as a crook. Ice Cube is still angry. Yadda Yadda.

 

I questioned co-writer and star Jonah Hill’s apparent fandom of the classic 80s TV series “21 Jump Street” with the 2012 big-screen version. It really had nothing at all to do with the TV show outside of the premise, which it then went on to use for comedic purposes. If thought of as “Superbad 2”, the film provided a few laughs, I suppose. But I was disappointed. Well, here’s the 2014 sequel from returning co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”, “The Lego Movie”), and it has even less connection with the TV show, with really only cameos (post-credits at that) by series stars Richard Grieco (who only joined the show towards the end) and Dustin Nguyen (merely seen on a poster, so does it really count?). It’s an even lesser film than its predecessor, as even the laughs this time are precious few.

 

We get off to a great start admittedly with a voiceover stating ‘Previously on “21 Jump Street”’, but it’s pretty much downhill from there. Firstly we get Channing Tatum attempting a comically bad Hispanic accent whilst undercover. Problem is, like Hugh Grant mangling a Mafioso accent in “Mickey Blue Eyes”, it’s painful and awkward instead of funny. Nick Offerman delivers a clever monologue as the Deputy Police Chief, talking about reviving ‘Jump Street’ that works on more than one-level. Unfortunately it’s a ‘We’re funny ‘coz we’re blatantly admitting this is a rehash’ joke that gets less funny with each ever-so slight variation on it. And the whole goddamn film is full of pretty much nothing but variations on this one gag. They even attend basically the same classes as last time except they’re college classes instead of high school classes. Worst of all, Ice Cube (otherwise the best thing in the film) even admits it’s the same case. Pointing out that you’re a sequel is only funny once, after that it’s desperate and annoying. They even go on another lame drug trip. So lazy and so Jonah Hill, though the screenplay this time didn’t have his hands on it, it was written by Michael Bacall (who co-scripted the excellent “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” and sadly, the first film), Rodney Rothman (“Grudge Match”), and Oren Uziel. It’s a bit of a slog to get through this, to be honest. I did, however like Tatum’s line about how they should go join the Secret Service and go to the White House. Funny. Even funnier is the identity of Amber Stevens’ father, something I should’ve seen coming but didn’t. The best joke in the entire film is Tatum’s delayed reaction to it, including a microwave ding sound. But this mixture of rehashing the original with a rehash of Jonah Hill’s brand of stoner comedy isn’t particularly funny. Even Tatum looks bored this time out and I don’t blame him with the writers giving him a lame, archaic gay joke-storyline that they can’t even fully commit themselves to, turning it into an awkward bro-mance when it’s clear early on that they intended it to be more than that. If you’re gonna go for homophobic humour, well don’t, but certainly don’t half-arse it. Wyatt Russell (Yes, Kurt’s son) tries his best, but the subplot is awkward, half-arsed and ultimately pointless. Don’t even get me started on the seriously awkward and just plain unfunny prison sex jokes with returning Rob Riggle and Dave Franco, which when you think about their roles in the previous film, is actually quite sinister in addition to being seriously homophobic. Mr. Hill, apparently a supporter of the gay community sure has a lot of black marks against him on and off screen, making one question his sincere apology in recent times over using a homophobic slur. He really, really needs to be careful about stuff like that or he’ll lose some of his audience through what I assume is really just carelessness and a lazy attitude. Meanwhile, Amber Stevens is astonishingly pretty, but I’m worried about her lack of scholastic aptitude as she’s seemingly been stuck in college for a decade. One for the “Greek” fans. Queen Latifah gets nothing to do as her mother, but she gets one cute line referencing a particular album by one of her co-stars here. Yes, that one.

 

I have to say that once the initial prime suspect proves rather unlikely, it becomes immediately obvious who the guilty party is. And just like last time, the film is capped off by a fucking terrible dubstep version of the theme song that still kicks arse in its original form, damn it. The end credits give us a slew of trailers for subsequent sequels, presumably to make sure they don’t ever have to make any of them. The only funny ones are “Sunday School”, with Seth Rogen in for Hill, and “Jump Street: Generations”, with Richard Grieco, and Dustin Nguyen on the poster.

 

Even lazier than last time, with even spottier humour, and practically no connection to the TV show. This isn’t awful, but it’s an awfully mediocre film that might even underwhelm Jonah Hill fans. Anyone who defends this cheap rehash (admitted rehash or not) should be ashamed of themselves. These people are disrespecting you by delivering such a lazy product.  

 

Rating: C