22 Jump Street

A seriously underwhelming sequel, 22 Jump Street follows Jonah Hill’s Schmidt and Channing Tatum’s Jenko as they head back to college to track down and arrest a notorious drug dealer – with the film detailing the various problems that crop up for the increasingly incompatible twosome along the way. Given that it opens with a “last time on 21 Jump Street” prologue, 22 Jump Street has clearly been designed to operate as both a run-of-the-mill sequel and a spoof of sequels – with filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, working from Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel, and Rodney Rothman’s script, infusing the proceedings with a relentlessly self-referential feel that proves disastrous right from the get-go. The pervasively tongue-in-cheek atmosphere prevents the viewer from working up an ounce of interest in or enthusiasm for the protagonists’ continuing exploits, and it doesn’t help, either, that the storyline has been suffused with a whole host of familiar, eye-rollingly hackneyed elements – with the best and most infuriating example of this the ongoing emphasis on Schmidt and Jenko’s marriage-like squabbles. (There is, for instance, a hopelessly tedious sequence in which the characters visit a couples therapist.) The uninvolving narrative, which even includes a fake breakup between the heroes, is sporadically alleviated by laugh-out-loud funny bits of comedic silliness, although it’s interesting to note that few of the movie’s chuckles come courtesy of the stars’ efforts – as both Hill and Tatum deliver lazy, uninspired performances that rely far too heavily on their well-established personas. By the time the interminable, endless action-oriented climax rolls around, 22 Jump Street has confirmed its place as a rather worthless followup that makes the lackluster original look polished and captivating by comparison.

*1/2 out of ****