One of the first conversations I had on Twitter after arriving home from London on Thursday evening was about whether or not “22 Jump Street” is a good comedy. I really enjoyed the movie, and I think it's got a lot going on just below the surface. It's like the world's most insane subversion of the “Beverly Hills Cop” model ever attempted, and it made me laugh like a maniac.
It's clear, though, that some of us at HitFix laughed harder at the film than others, and that's fine. That's how comedies normally are. There are any number of comedies that I adore that people hate, and I would never try to argue the point with them. For me, laughter is an involuntary thing, and when I spend pretty much the entire running time of a film laughing, I'd call that a successful comedy. It was true of the first “21 Jump Street,” and it's equally true of the sequel.
We decided to look at the best and worst things about “22 Jump Street” here, and the whole HitFix editorial team took a shot at it.
For me, the one thing I can't decide if I liked or disliked is a pretty big spoiler so I didn't mention it in my first review. I guess I liked this one thing, but disliked the way it was resolved in the film. As they work undercover to find a new drug being sold to college students, Jenko (Channing Tatum) tries to get close to a football player named Zook (Wyatt Russell). From the moment Jenko and Zook meet, they've got a relationship right out of a romantic comedy, and they play it over the entire film. I wish they would have had Jenko realize at some point in the film that he's actually gay, because I think it would have been a fascinating way to twist the buddy comedy norms. Tatum's such a super-cop in the film that revealing he's gay would challenge expectations in a big way.
What are the things the rest of Team HitFix liked and disliked? Open the gallery below, and let's see how many you agree and disagree with.
“22 Jump Street” is in theaters now.