What's the best way to approach a comedy film sequel?
By blatantly mocking the fact you're even making one, according to 22 Jump Street star Jonah Hill.
Undercover detectives Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) return in the follow-up to 2012's 21 Jump Street, based on the 1980s television show.
Like its predecessor, the sequel - again directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller - sets a strong tone of self-awareness early on.
Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) tells Schmidt and Jenko they "got lucky" with their efforts in 21 Jump Street and "this department has invested a lot of money to make sure Jump Street keeps going."
Aside from being assigned to go to college rather than high school, and moving across the road to number 22, Schmidt and Jenko are told they'll be essentially doing exactly the same thing, except this time with a bigger budget.
Effectively, the film doesn't shy away from the fact it's simply a vehicle to showcase another round of laughs, action and on-screen chemistry between Hill and Tatum.
"I think the first one worked because of it's self-awareness and I think the second one does that as well," said Hill, who co-wrote the story with Michael Bacall.
"Turning a TV show into a movie is a really unoriginal, bad idea and we were very aware of calling ourselves out for that.
"Making a sequel is a very lazy, unoriginal idea and we called ourselves out for understanding that sequels are always just worse and more expensive than the first one."
That, Hill says, sets the tone for a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously.
"It really wants to be about just having fun and having people enjoy a film," he said.
22 Jump Street ups the ante on its predecessor in just about every aspect, in particular the 'Bromance' between Schmidt and Jenko.
While the original focused on the honeymoon period of their blossoming police partnership and friendship, the sequel finds them encountering issues typically faced by a married couple.
Close friends off-screen, Hill and Tatum's comedic spark remains well and truly intact, despite both focusing mainly on dramatic roles since the original.
21 Jump Street was a comedic debut of sorts for Tatum, who is being mentioned as a possible Oscar contender for his role as Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz in upcoming Bennett Miller film Foxcatcher.
The 34-year-old would hardly consider himself comfortable with the genre now but he definitely found the experience easier the second time around.
"It was less scary," Tatum said.
"It was really scary the first time just putting yourself out there and sometimes you fall on your face
"Sometimes something you think could be funny just does not work but you have to just give it up, all of it."
Still, both Tatum and Hill struggled to keep their composure during filming when the likes of Ice Cube and Rob Riggle were at their hilarious best.
"We still can't do scenes with Rob Riggle. He's like Kryptonite, man, we're powerless," Hill said.
While the film jokingly makes reference to a continuation of the franchise, Hill said there were no immediate plans for a 23 Jump Street.
"College was a natural progression from high school. There doesn't seem to be another natural progression to another type of scholastic environment, but you never know," the Moneyball and Wolf of Wall Street star said.
"It's not something we're thinking about right this minute but we'll see how south our careers go."
22 Jump Street opens in Australia on June 19.
source: newshub archive
