22 Jump Street

20 June 2014 | 11:22 am | Guy Davis

"22 Jump Street is much more fun when it allows Hill and especially Tatum (seriously funny here) to cut loose."

We may have reached Peak Bro. 22 Jump Street, the sequel to the unexpectedly hilarious big-screen reimagining of undercover-cops-in-high-school TV series 21 Jump Street, wrings every drop of sublimated sexual and romantic tension out of the relationship between mismatched police partners Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) as the dynamic duo are dispatched to college by hot-tempered boss Ice Cube to flush out and foil the distributor of a hot new drug offering the rush of speed and the trip of acid.

Wait, wasn't that pretty much the plot of the first movie? Why yes, it was... and 22 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (of LEGO Movie fame) really want you to know they're just as aware of the tried-and-true traditions of sequels as you, smarty-pants. If the movie has a flaw, it's that it mashes down pretty heavily on the self-awareness button, throwing out meta-gags ten to the dozen. It's fun for a while but does get wearying. (That said, the closing credits takes the gag and runs with it. Stick around for that.)

22 Jump Street is much more fun when it allows Hill and especially Tatum (seriously funny here) to cut loose. Watch out also for Workaholics and Eastbound & Down star Jillian Bell.