Dumb comedy, with some surprisingly smart moves, writes Christine Powley.
Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Peter Stormare, Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens, Jillian Bell, Ice Cube, The Lucas Brothers, Nick Offerman, Jimmy Tatro
Rating: (R13)
3 stars out of 5
One of the perils of this job is that eventually you end up reviewing the film versions of all the bad television you were originally too discerning to watch.
Actually, I dodged 21 Jump Street (the TV series and the film) and this review is for 22 Jump Street (Rialto), where the not so baby-faced cops go back undercover, this time to college. Maybe it was that my expectations were so low, but for a dumb comedy 22 Jump Street has some rather smart moves.
Odd couple Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) have an on-screen chemistry that we have not seen since Richard Gere picked up Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and both actors are more than happy to push it to its limits. In the first movie they had to learn to love each other, here they have to learn how to make that love work.
If high school suited Schmidt, college and frat houses filled with jocks are Jenko's natural environment. The boys are embedded in the dorm looking for the supplier of a new drug Whyphy, but soon Jenko is deep undercover with Zook (Wyatt Russell), a football player who could be his twin from another mother.
Lonely Schmidt starts a relationship with Maya (Amber Stevens), a student who turns out to be closer to his work than is comfortable. Will our boys rekindle their passion for solving crime together? Or will we never get to see ''23 Jump Street''?
Best thing: When the credits start rolling they start a sequence of spoof sequels that easily gets to ''50 Jump Street'', the one you do not want to miss.
Worst thing: Taking regular time-outs to mock the movie you are making only leaves the audience wondering why not make a bit more effort?
See it with: A desire to see more of the Hill/Tatum bromance.
