Most sequels all have the same inherent problem: they try to take all of the best elements of what made the original so successful and expand upon them, make it bigger, and attempt to retain the high quality of the original and make more money. A lot of the time the sequel becomes a carbon copy of the original, placing the characters in a new setting and tweaking the conflict, but creating what is essentially the same plot (I'm looking right at you Hangover II). The best sequels expand upon the characters and not the plot. They create new conflicts and new scenarios for the characters we know and love to have to overcome. Yes, sequels always get a higher budget and always amp up the energy of the first movie, but the good ones use this budget effectively (Terminator 2, Aliens). 22 Jump Street recognizes both achievements and very unsubtly parodies the outcomes of both sequel scenarios. In turn, this decision makes 22 Jump Street a highly self-aware and effective sequel.
The plot begins the same. Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) are sent undercover as college students (expanding upon the high school students they played in the previous entry) to find the dealers of a new synthetic drug in order to take down the supplier (the exact same thing they did in the previous entry). This time, instead of Schmidt being taken in as the cool one, and Jenko as the outcast, the roles are switched once again. They even solve the crime by discovering that it was a teacher on campus who had a hand in the drug distribution... exactly as it was in the previous entry. Lessons are learned about brotherhood and friendship and what it means to succeed in life and college. However, this is just the first half of the film. The second half is about going bigger. It's about adding a twist to the structure of the first one and a half Jump Street films. It's about not replicating the same plot from the first film, but about taking the characters we love and bringing them to new, organic conflict that has them dealing with a situation that is out of their league, appears unwinnable, and forces the audience to wonder how in the hell they're going to make it out alive.
This entire plan of mocking sequels, and more specifically action sequels, isn't exactly a subtle artform to directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. In 21 Jump Street it was all about mocking how Hollywood is incapable of coming up with new ideas, so they decide to reboot something from the past that no one really gave a shit about in the first place. It was chock full of "reboot" references and jabs. This time, it's the action movie sequel. There are blatant references to Lethal Weapon, Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2, Iron Man 3, Ice Cube's music career, and loads of 80s action tropes. All of the references successful and even make sense in the what the two cops are trying to accomplish plot-wise. It's a smart film, if not just a little bit too overt with their tactics.
What's strange about movies today is that most films are critically unsuccessful unless they defy convention or parody it. A straight sequel to 22 Jump Street would've probably done about the same in the box office. But, in order to boost that score on rotten tomatoes, they had to satirize everything about what it means to be a sequel. This is something Muppets Most Wanted attempted briefly, but failed to explain as witty as 22. Originality and self-awareness is the name of the movie game in 2014. Anything else just comes off as hackneyed and cheap. Though, I feel a majority of the films released in the last decade have these themes, it's a new day and age where the film industry has done so much we have to parody the parody at this point.
But, it is a very funny movie. I wouldn't say it's any better or worse than the original. If you enjoyed 21 Jump Street, then you will be pleased with it's sequel. It's Channing Tatum as a charming, brutish idiot, something we may not get to see again. And it's Jonah Hill-- a douche. But, he's a very funny douche. He will not fail to make anyone laugh. There are some fun cameos, and one really stupid one. Ice Cube steals nearly every scene he's in. And there's something funny here for everyone. It's a very successful sequel that doesn't fail to point out why it is successful and how it would've failed. It's a commentary on the film industry's laziness... with dick jokes. So, you know... it's a pretty good balance.
B
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