Review: 22 JUMP STREET

22 JUMP STREET  (ACTION-COMEDY) 

3.5 out of 4 stars
Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller 
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Peter Stormare, Ice Cube, Amber Stevens, Wyatt Russell, Jillian Bell, Nick Offerman, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle
Rated R for language throughout, sexual content, drug material, brief nudity and some violence.
Verdict: The exceptional comedy sequel that holds its own alongside its unexpectedly good predecessor, 22 JUMP STREET proves that the directing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller may be even more talented than we gave them credit for, creating an unexpected surprise (albeit less so) out of a sequel to a wholly unexpected surprise.  The high-octane bromance of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum returns in fine form for a deliriously funny response to the original.
YOU MAY ENJOY 22 JUMP STREET IF YOU LIKED:
21 JUMP STREET  (2012)
NEIGHBORS  (2014)
THE LEGO MOVIE  (2014)
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS  (2014)

Comedy and horror are often cited as the most subjective of film genres, because so much of what we find funny or scary has to do with our own personal experience and state of mind, and when a film manages to win the laughs or terror of audiences, it's almost always a lightning-in-a-bottle case.  They say the sequel is never as good as the first, but we all know that that isn't true, thanks to the likes of THE GODFATHER PART II, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and both TOY STORY 2 & 3.  What people really mean is that comedy and horror sequels are never as good as the originals, which is what makes 22 JUMP STREET such a strange duck, and why it has a legitimate claim to be one of the best comedy sequels ever.  Don't misunderstand; that kind of statement should be taken in the context that there is so very little worthy competition, however, 22 JUMP STREET is an abnormally intelligent laugh riot nonetheless.
Officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are back working the streets and chasing down narcotics, but after losing notorious drug kingpin "Ghost" (Peter Stormare) in a disastrous pursuit, their chief re-assigns them to the 21 Jump Street program under Captain Dickson (Ice Cube), now re-located to 22 Jump Street.  Too old to go undercover as high school students again, Schmidt and Jenko are now going undercover as college students at MC State, where they are yet again to "infiltrate the dealers, find the supplier," this time for a drug known as WHYPHY (WiFi).
With total self-awareness, director Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (who've already had one hit this year with THE LEGO MOVIE) run Schmidt and Jenko through the same beats as the first film, with enough sly tweaking to make a witty commentary on the nature of sequels, winking directly at the fourth wall, if not quite breaking it.  It's more of the same...but then again, not really.
It's relationship to its predecessor is unique though, because 21 JUMP STREET was a pleasant and almost wholly unexpected surprise, adapting a television series from the 1980s with a ridiculous premise, and reinventing it as a self-aware R-rated comedy that bounded well above the low expectations.  Even so, we've seen plenty of sequels to unexpected hits that were highly anticipated and failed spectacularly, and the idea of a sequel to something as surprising as 21 JUMP STREET shouldn't sound any better.  It's a brazen cash grab, except that the Lord & Miller team has made their reputation for crafting excellent comedies out of low-rate concepts, such as CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and THE LEGO MOVIE.  The question is, can they make a pleasant surprise out of a sequel to one of their own pleasant surprises?  And the answer is a resounding yes.