22 Jump Street - Analysis and Review

It just keeps getting better and better

21 Jump Street took a lot of people by surprise. There were many who believed the fact that it exists as a cash grab. At the time, the announcement of casting Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as the lead roles even had more people rolling their eyes. But then when it did finally came to the big screen, magic happened. Self-aware magic that made 21 Jump Street a really special film. It also proved that animation directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller can be a formidable force with live action films as well. They have been on a roll with their slate, and The Lego Movie proves that they know what they are doing. But can they match up to the movie that made them the powerhouses they are now?

The Plot

Undercover Officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are once again thrown into the same exact scenario as the last movie because apparently the department believes that they only excel if they do the same thing. And they do the same thing. They infiltrate a school as students in order to hunt down a drug dealer who is supplying a new kind of drug. The difference? They're in college.

Analysis

Comedy sequels are really hard to do. The Hangover Part II was pretty much exactly the same as the first one. And just like I stated in the plot synopsis, 22 Jump Street is pretty much the same exact thing. Or at least it claims to be. But that is the difficulty about creating a good comedy sequel. They are extremely rare and when they do happen it usually comes off as, "Is this really necessary?" For the most part no one needed a sequel to The Hangover but it happened, and it was the exact same thing. 22 Jump Street however acknowledges and beats it over your head that this movie is exactly the same thing as the last one. But then again not really. But at least with this film they acknowledge and poke fun of not just the fact that they're doing a sequel but also make fun of sequels in general. The audience will probably understand the jokes about the Hollywood system when it comes to franchises, but probably won't even realize how much of a satire it is on franchises in general. This is a smart sequel to an already smart movie. And I'm talking about a comedy. The best comedies are smart, but a comedy sequel that is just as smart and just as funny as the previous is truly something special.

Review

It may be the exact same thing, but I also have to stress that there are enough twists and turns to make it not seem like it is. But to be fair it does feel like the same exact story. But to the genius that is directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, it doesn't matter that its the same. This movie is ****ing hilarious! Incredibly so that one could easily look past the reused plot. Which is very easy to look past given the fact that it is a running joke in the movie that they are doing the same thing as the last one because it was successful. And it definitely is.

Jonah Hill has already established himself as a force in comedy and has gone on to prove that he can be great in the dramatic department. But if there is one person that has to be given praise it has to be Channing Tatum. Unlike some models turned actors, he actually improved over the years that he has been in the game. 21 Jump Street was definitely his breakout role despite having already been around and in the people's radar for many years prior. With the upcoming film Foxcatcher he shows that he is now capable of being a genuine dramatic actor from just a few seconds seen in a trailer. And this film proves that he has definitely become a force to be reckoned with in comedy. Tatum is amazing in this film. Everyone from the first film stepped up their game, but Tatum goes through the roof. He even has the best scene in the entire movie. When you see it, you'll know which one it is because you won't be able to stop laughing even after its over. Ice Cube plays an integral part in making that scene the best scene, but he definitely had some of the best moments in the film as well. 

The new supporting cast does well in the movie. Wyatt Russell plays Zook, a frat boy and kindred spirit to Tatum's Jenko. Their bromance just added more to the humor as it plays it up as a "love triangle" between Hill, Russell, and Tatum. Then there's the incredibly beautiful Amber Stevens as Maya, Hill's new love interest in the film who plays an integral part in Hill's development as a character as well as an integral part to the hilarious scene in the movie. Jillian Bell plays Maya's roommate and does become a one note joke in the movie, but when it escalates it escalates well. Peter Stormare plays the drug lord that Jenko and Schmidt are after, though it feels as though an actor of his caliber is underutilized for the role of the villain. Or wasn't really given enough to have a standout performance. Regardless, they all contributed into making this film hilarious and that is where it all really matters.

Final Thoughts

Yes, it is the same thing. Yes, it is a little bit different. Yes, Channing Tatum is now a full fledged actor. Yes, this movie will keep you laughing for a long time. It is the comedy sequel that equals or outshines the previous movie in almost every single way, Yes there was Austin Powers the Spy Who Shagged Me, but then there is also The Hangover Part II. Luckily for this sequel, it does not compare to either of those movies. To put things in perspective, I gave the previous movie an 8. For this...

SCORE: 8.5/10 - But for the hilarious factor the movie feels like a 9/10

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Analysis and Review

And this is where it all went wrong

The pressure is admittedly on. Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe is ever-expanding that with Guardians of the Galaxy it will literally become a universe instead of a Earth and a small portion of the galaxy. Sony went through great efforts to ensure that the rights to their most profitable superhero property remains with them. But with Marvel expanding and Fox deciding to finally broaden their X-Men universe, what is Sony to do? Everything it takes. For better or for worse.

Plot

Peter Parker/Spider-Man finds himself at a crossroads in life. He wants to be with his the one girl he love, Gwen Stacy, but is haunted by the promise he made to her father: Stay away. But when the return of an old friend triggers events that would make Spider-Man's biggest fan into his greatest enemy, things begin to spiral out of control.

Analysis

The need to compete with the big boys is obvious. It shows from what Sony studios plans to do with their Spider-Man franchise. And while it may please comic book fans that they are finally expanding their horizons and thinking bigger, that is not exactly a good thing. Or it can be if thought out with a clear head. And would be great if it had been stretched out and explored in other films. But for one film to accomplish so much, it is not possible.

This film suffers the same syndrome of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3: putting too many things into a plot that clearly wasn't designed to hold all of them. It was clear from the start that this was intended to be a one on one battle between Spider-Man and Electro. That's the way it was promoted at first and that was the way director Marc Webb had talked about wanting to do. Whether or not that storyline would've been amazing is questionable though. So questionable to a point where it is where they started then immediately started adding on a storyline that arguably seems to be more interesting than the one originally intended. But it almost seems like Webb and his team didn't want to let go of what they said they would set out to do. So they tried to find a way to make those plots work. But then of course there's a certain event from the comics that happens in this movie that really starts bring up a lot of questions. Did they think any of this through? They obviously did because the filmmakers seemed to have come up with something that could've worked. Could've. But let me just get to the review.

Review

I am probably one of the few people out there who really enjoyed Marc Webb's first Amazing Spider-Man film. It had a serious tone with a sarcastically playful Spider-Man going up against a dull villain. It had its problems but it definitely worked. I always felt like something was missing that would've made the film special. Something that the Sam Raimi films had. I wasn't sure what it was but I knew it was missing something. With this film I hoped that whatever it was missing would be there. Well... I guess what I was missing was entertainment, because I was entertained by this film. But at the same time I was cringing.

The film has so many good things about it, but at the same time so many horrible things about it. A good thing thing that I have to put out there right now is that Andrew Garfield IS Spider-Man! In this film he completely disappears into the role becoming the iconic superhero from the comics. He literally does everything a comic book fan would hope he would, making him a far superior Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is phenomenal. She is the whole package in terms of what guys hope to fall in love with. She's everything a guy would want in a girl and she does it well. Usually in a superhero film, the love interest storyline can feel so forced but in this film the relationship between Peter and Gwen is one of the standout highlights of the film. The whole time I believed these two really love each other and it was the most real thing about this movie. Sally Field does a very well performance as Aunt May who goes through an emotional arc in this story. Dane DeHaan does a good job as Peter's long lost friend, Harry Osborn. And then there's...

Now let me just say this. Jaime Foxx and Paul Giamatti are fantastic actors. Incredible actors. And they act the hell out of the roles they are given. The problem? The roles they are given. In a film that established as being the more real and grittier take on Spider-Man, Foxx's Electro and Giamatti's Rhino are cartoon characters. Not the awesome cartoon characters from the gone too soon Spectacular Spider-Man TV show. I mean cartoon characters from a Looney Toons skit. Well, Foxx's Electro was cool. But before becoming the electric Dr. Manhattan, Foxx had to play Max Dillon. A caricature of the pathetic loser that people want to feel sorry for if he wasn't so creepy. It was a cartoon character but after becoming Electro he become a one dimensional stereotypical evil character. Giamatti's role for Rhino was such a big Russian stereotype that it was annoying. He's not even a player in the film, more like a glorified overused cameo. And with these characters lie the problem.

The tonal shift of the movie is sporadic. The prologue dealing with what happened to Peter's parents matches the serious tone established in the first film then suddenly shifts to an entertaining tone during the first act. This isn't a bad thing for a Spider-Man film to be entertaining, but the tone shift between serious to entertaining to cartoony to serious to romantic are all over the place. There are some tones that go hand in hand but the cartoony take on the villains combined with the entertaining tone makes it seem out of place from the serious tone rather than a relief. It makes every amazing scene that promises an incredible film get immediately followed by a terrible scene that shows that this could've been a horrible film. Believe me, it shows you this could be amazing then immediately shows you it could also be horrible.

I blame the tone shift and the incoherent multiple story plots on Sony's need to compete against Disney Marvel, Fox Marvel, and now even Warner Bros. DC. The problem is that trying to accomplish that all in one go can prove to have devastating effects on the quality of the film.

Final Thoughts

Believe it or not I still enjoy this film. Will I go out and buy it? No. Will I go out and buy the complete Blu-Ray box set that is bound to be released once all their run on Spider-Man is done? Yes I will. It is a fun film that doesn't know what it wants to be. There is enjoyment from the film but there is also cringe inducing moments. Surprisingly the romance story is not one of those cringe inducing moments. Valiant Effort to establish a universe all in one movie. Let's see how DC does with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

SCORE: 6.9/10 - It's fun, but not electrifyingly amazing