A romantic action-comedy without physical sex between its leads—on principle alone, let's not use the term "bromance"—"22 Jump Street" is a savvy riff on the nature of TV-to-film reboots and cinematic sequelitis. Opening with a "Previously on..." montage summarizing the events of 2012's "21 Jump Street," the picture wastes no time jumping into its first of several stunt-heavy action sequences, this one approaching armrest-clenching status as police officer Schmidt (Jonah Hill) finds himself hanging perilously from the side of a drug cartel's cargo truck as it barrels down the highway. Once he and partner Jenko (Channing Tatum) narrowly escape from a gang of traffickers, the guys are reassigned into the gruff care of Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) at the grander, sleeker 22 Jump St. Cue an impressively non-stop barrage of sly double-entendres commenting on the notoriously bigger, louder, dumber state of most movie sequels. True to its claim, the larger-scaled "22 Jump Street" is all of those things, but the makers are clearly in on the joke, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (2014's "The LEGO Movie"), along with screenwriters Michael Bacall (2010's "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"), Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman, quick to beat skeptical audience members to the punch. The loopy, satirical commitment with which they have approached this second part also gives it a slight edge over its predecessor.
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