Phil Lord and Chris Miller have done it again!  We saw them kill it earlier this year with ‘The Lego Movie’, which ended up being a pleasant surprise for all of us. And now, a sequel to another unexpected hit ’21 Jump Street’ in 2012, ’22 Jump Street’ has gone even bigger and more extravagant than the first.  Although I personally liked it’s predecessor more, this movie was amazing and had me cracking up with laughter throughout the entire film!

One thing this movie had going for it was the momentum that the first installment established leading into the sequel.  Most people who saw ’21 Jump Street’ loved it and were automatically drawn to the second.   The first film also generated a lot of positive “word of mouth” which in turn got more people to go see it and ultimately lead to more viewers for the second film (pulling in 60 million its opening weekend).  My point being, ’22 Jump Street’ was bound for success regardless of any faults in the marketing or early reviews of the film.  Not to say that the marketing was bad but just to make a point, people were going to go see this film either way.  The real question is:  Was it actually good? And is it the best comedy of the year so far?

The answer to the first question is, absolutely yes!  This movie was extremely enjoyable and any fan of raunchy adult comedies will have a great time at the movie theater, especially if you loved the first one as much as I did.  The funniest thing about this movie is the “self awareness” of the characters and the narration of it.  Meaning that little gestures throughout the movie hinted towards them (the characters and the film itself) knowing that they are a sequel to a ridiculous idea of a movie and they play on that, making it one of the more enjoyable aspects of the film.  Without giving too much away, the story line is very similar to that of ’21 Jump Street’ and although that can be a negative for most sequels it was not for this film.  There are a few unexpected twists and turns that are a departure from the first,  which makes it a fresh take on a sequel, not just a repeat of ’21’.   In a way it’s kind of making fun of the first movie and it’s hilarious the way they execute it (a couple times I had to restrain myself from laughing so hard in the theater).

Now, for the second question; is ’22 Jump Street’ the best comedy of this year?  Surprisingly no it is not, in my opinion.  I thought earlier this year ‘Neighbors’ ( see our review ) set the bar for comedies in 2014 and that’s a good thing for film fans because it just means more great movies for us!  I wouldn’t argue against someone who thinks ’22 Jump Street’ is the best comedy of the year because its all based on personal preferences and it’s pretty darn close to being so, if you ask me.  However, I just felt like ‘Neighbors’ was something fresh and original, not to mention Seth Rogen is my favorite comedic actor of all time…  so I may be a little bias.

Overall I think ’22 Jump Street’ was a comically genius film by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and I can’t wait to see more of their work.  I give it a 8/10.  What did you guys think of ’22 Jump Street’? Was it better than ‘Neighbors’?  Or is there another comedy that you liked even more than both of these films in 2014?  Express your thoughts in the comment section!