Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 2 ratings
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don't have to just crack the case - they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.
22 Jump Street is a self-aware, meta sequel that openly mocks the concept of sequels while delivering one — a genuinely clever comedic conceit that elevates its novelty above a simple rehash. The plot is formulaic by design but the self-referential humor about budget inflation and repetition saves it from pure derivativeness. Tatum and Hill have excellent chemistry and commit fully to the comedy, though neither is doing dramatic heavy lifting. Cinematography is functional buddy-cop fare with no visual ambition. The ending, however, is a standout: the mid-credits sequence spoofing an infinite parade of sequels is one of the funniest post-credit gags in recent comedy history, earning a genuine 4 in that category.