22 Jump Street

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill have made Jump Street a lucrative franchise. The sequel made $20 million dollars more domestically in its opening weekend than 21 Jump Street. Always poking fun at itself for being a sequel, the movie is very self aware, even more so than the first flick was for making a movie out of an old tv show. 22 follows sequel conventions like doing the same thing as the original, but with a twist, bringing back even minor characters and aiming to go bigger than the first movie.

From the box office results and the opinions of other viewers, the sequel has been very well liked. 22 Jump Street has a 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on imdb. Personally, I was underwhelmed. While I appreciate the nods to Hollywood's predictability at turning out sequels and unoriginal material, there was a non-related long running joke that did not relent and it just got old. Next time I will have to give myself my "manage expectations" pep talk right as the movie starts (seems to work best on comedies). Of course, watching some Channing Tatum is always better than not watching some Channing Tatum.

The movie seems to indicate that there will not be a 23 Jump Street. However, I couldn't help but wonder, would a third Jump Street be like part three of the Hangover trilogy or Oceans 13? Redeeming? Interestingly, those franchises' third entries shared a return to their original locations, in Vegas. To take from the sequel debate in the second Scream movie, the third movies in a film franchise tend to be better and the seconds weaker. Hollywood can not seem to resist milking a concept until it no longer generates a profit, so maybe in the Summer of 2016 there will be a 23 Jump Street: Medical School.