These cops are too cool for school

22 Jump Street
English (A) ¬¬¬¬
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

After being witness to the hilarity of 21 Jump Street (2012), one may have the notion that a sequel to the movie could not possibly be better. This notion is almost immediately shot down with 22 Jump Street, despite the dreaded censorship in theatres taking out chunks of the movie you’d have liked to watch.

Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Gregory Jenko (Channing Tatum) – the unlikely cop duo that brought us inappropriate, slapstick humour in 21 Jump Street – come back even bigger and better in this movie. The larger than life Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) is every bit as amusing as he was in the last film, with his bullying Schmidt and Jenko getting more intense and entertainingly profane.

With their 21 Jump Street mission – an undercover high school drug bust – having unexpectedly worked out, the brothers in arms cops are sent to college with a similar agenda. The same “infiltrate the dealers, find the supplier” premise has been played on for the better in this movie, with the goofy, next-gen Starsky and Hutch coming face to face with the “WhyPhy” drug – an acronym for Work Hard Yes, Play Hard yes’.

Schmidt and Jenko had pretended to be brothers in their previous mission, and it is the same for 22 Jump Street. The duo’s intense and yet amusing levels of “bromance” is a testimony to the fact that they are far from homophobic. But for the homophobes, perhaps the “partnership” innuendos will hopefully be subtle enough to go unnoticed.Hill and Tatum play their roles down to a T and make for good comedy.

They will have the average person laugh enough in 120 minutes to keep them going laughter-free for at least a week. If you watch this movie in theatres, you won’t have to worry about the sound of an accidental snort in the middle of a giggling fit, because it will most certainly be drowned out by the rest of the audience. And no laughter will be over-emphatic. If you watch it at home alone, your neighbours or family might think that you have taken substances of the likes of WhyPhy.

For those who aren’t easily amused, this movie is a good way to bring a dash of amusement in your life, but be prepared for a plethora of inappropriate jokes. And for those who are easily amused, brace yourself for you will split your sides.