Review of 22 Jump Street (2014) by Opinionatedguy — 12 Oct 2014

Oh wow. I expect a funny movie sequel but damn, I didn’t expect a very funny sequel with a lot of heart in it.

The phrase "The sequel is better than the original" is rare in comedy movies and 22 Jump Street is one of the few movies where the sequel is better than the original (21 Jump Street).

What I really loved about this movie is the perfect balance between the serious tone and the funny tone of this movie. It had a lot of heart in it as a result and I would credit Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's direction for it.

Speaking of direction, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller did an awesome job directing the movie, as usual with their other movies they directed. I still think The LEGO Movie is still their best directing effort but their directing is one of the reasons why this movie is so enjoyable to watch in technical aspects of the movie.

Another reason why I loved this movie was surprisingly great character development. This made me really care and love the main duo characters Schmidt and Jenko. Schmidt’s character development hit me home really hard. The cast performances from Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum is really great and their bromance chemistry felt so realistic and easy to root for.

Of course, the humor is really good and it does not involve shooting of penises this time so I guess it’s better because it does not involve shock humor. Rather, it uses meta humor to make this movie’s humor funnier without losing its brash yet goofy and funny humor altogether.

The plot was an attribute why this sequel is better than the original. Though, one problem with the plot is that it felt predictable at times and I think this is why this movie is not entirely perfect.

Overall, this movie is very funny to watch. It’s better than the sequel for sure. I would love to watch the movie again especially with my friends around to enhance the experience of rewatching this movie. Even watching this movie again alone is a rewarding experience with great direction, great character development, re-watchable plot, funny meta, brash and goofy humor and of course, the great bromance chemistry between the movie’s leads.

P.S: This movie pulled a Marvel in a very meta, funny way so stay after the movie ends.