22 Jump Street (11/18/2014)

Rated R for language throughout, sexual content, drug material, brief nudity and some violence.

Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Nick Offerman, Dave Franco and Richard Grieco

Directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street , Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs)

If there’s any doubt that 22 Jump Street is a sequel, the creators are happy to fill in the gaps.

After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don’t have to just crack the case – they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.

I wasn’t a fan of the first film and since this is a lazy, shameless rehashing of the original, I’m not a fan of this one.

The directing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also directed the first film, are back for the sequel. They keep the energy level high and keep the jokes flowing…which helps cover up the lack of depth in the storyline.

Here’s what I’m talking about, there’s a scene early in the film where the deputy police chief Nick Offerman is disciplining agents Schmidt and Jenko for straying from formula and not living up to their expectations. Then he goes into a rant about the pitfalls of buddy-cop sequels, how the partners inevitably have a falling out and how their second adventure is never as good as the first…yawn.

Hey Miller and Lord, just because you make fun of clichés doesn’t mean they’re not clichés. Especially when the sequel is clearly just a cash cow. So changing the setting from high school to college was clever…but just not enough.

Sure I’ll admit that there are some funny scenes. That’s mostly thanks to Hill and Offerman…Tatum is as annoying as ever.

I know a lot of teenagers who loved this film. So maybe I’m getting older, or maybe I don’t enjoy the low-hanging fruit jokes or maybe I just don’t like Tatum …either way this film was a “Skip it.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Although there is no sex shown, there are constant sexual references and inappropriate jokes. There are also around 123 F-words and 3 obscene hand gestures. There are around 72 S-words and close to 100 mild obscenities.

There are several car chases and gun fights, but all are in a comical nature and not terribly intense.

CONVERSATION STARTER

1. What are some differences between Schmidt and Jenko?


2. Despite those differences, how well do they work together?


3. What can we learn from their relationship?

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

12 The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. 13 Some of us are Jews, and others are Gentiles. Some of us are slaves, and others are free. But God’s Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ. Now we each drink from that same Spirit.

14 Our bodies don’t have just one part. They have many parts. 15 Suppose a foot says, “I’m not a hand, and so I’m not part of the body.” Wouldn’t the foot still belong to the body? 16 Or suppose an ear says, “I’m not an eye, and so I’m not part of the body.” Wouldn’t the ear still belong to the body? 17 If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn’t hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn’t smell a thing. 18 But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.

19 A body isn’t really a body, unless there is more than one part. 20 It takes many parts to make a single body. 21 That’s why the eyes cannot say they don’t need the hands. That’s also why the head cannot say it doesn’t need the feet. 22 In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. 23 We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, 24 but we don’t have to be modest about other parts.

God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. 25 He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. 26 If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy.

27 Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body.



4. How do you see different parts of the same body in your church?


5. What part do you play?


6. How can you be an effective part of the body?