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"Ladies, nobody gave a shit about the Jump Street reboot when you first came on. Anyone with half a brain, myself included, thought it was destined to fail spectacularly. But you got lucky. So now this department has invested a lot of money to make sure Jump Street keeps going. We've doubled their budget, as if spending twice the money guaranteed twice the profit."
Capt. Hardy

The 2014 sequel to the 2012 comedy 21 Jump Street. The film once again is directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller and stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as Morton Schmidt and Greg Jenko. This time they have to go undercover at a university to locate a drug called WHY-PHY ("Work Hard? Yes, Play Hard? Yes", pronounced "wi-fi"). However, complications arise and their friendship comes under pressure.

The fact that this is basically a step-for-step retread of the first film is openly acknowledged and completely lampooned throughout the story. Like the first film, this pokes fun at college comedies and action films. Of course, this time, it especially pokes fun at action film sequels.

The film was released in most of Europe on June 4 and in America on June 13.

Compare Superbad, Hot Fuzz, The Heat, and Bad Boys II.

During the 2014 Sony email leaks, it was revealed that a sequel was in the works, and would be a Crossover with the Men in Black franchise as an Affectionate Parody of the shared film universe concept first introduced by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film's title was later revealed to be MIB 23, with Tatum and Hill set to reprise their roles. It's since been cancelled, leaving the future of Jump Street uncertain (while MIB has gone international).


The film provides examples of:

  • Acrofatic: Schimdt finally overcomes his inability to jump high during the final battle.
  • Actor Allusion:
  • Affably Evil: The Yang twins are rather pleasant people, given their involvement with the bad guys.
  • Affectionate Parody: Of college movies and action film sequels.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Zook, if his line near the end is any indication.
  • And Some Other Stuff: WHY-PHY is "Adderall mixed with Ecstasy mixed with God knows what".
  • And the Adventure Continues: The film ends with Schmidt and Jenko being sent on more infiltration missions involving schools, each more bizarre than the previous
  • Anime Catholicism: Vietnamese Jesus. He truly puts Korean Jesus to shame.
  • Always Identical Twins: Keith and Kenny Yang (The Lucas Bros).
  • Arc Symbol: The yin-yang, symbolizing Schmidt and Jenko's relationship.
  • Awkward Poetry Reading: Schmidt performs at a slam poetry reading to try and impress Amber. Upon going up to perform, he ends up talking about "Julia Rob-hurts" and ends it with "Cynthia, beep-bop, you are dead."
  • Ax-Crazy: The Ghost and his daughter Mercedes, who's more chaotic than her father.
  • The Backwards Я: The end credits spell the title of 24 Jump Street, the hypothetical sequel when the duo becomes exchange students in Russia, with a Я.
  • Badass in Distress: Dickson in the climax.
  • Bait-and-Switch: The film opens with a recap of the first film ending with Dickson telling Schmidt and Jenko they're going to college. It then cuts to a college professor giving a lecture… only to zoom out to reveal that it's an online class the duo is watching on a tablet while they're at a parking garage.
  • Better than a Bare Bulb: Even more so than the first film, lampshades are hung absolutely everywhere, especially all the gags about how sequels do the same things again but are much more expensive.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: The Ghost and his daughter, Mercedes.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Dickson and several other Jump Street agents, including the AP Chemistry nerds that Jenko befriended in the first movie, during the finale.
  • Black Dude Dies First: Cynthia, the student whose death prompts Jump Street to send Schmidt & Jenko undercover as the McQuaid brothers again.
  • Black Comedy Rape: Between Eric and Mr. Walters.
  • Bond One-Liner: Discussed when Jenko gets ready to lob a grenade; Schmidt tells him to say "something cool" when he does it.note 
  • Book Safe: The Ghost distributes WHY-PHY to his dealers through hollowed-out library books.
  • Brick Joke: The coach cemented the goal posts to ensure students couldn't take them down. The exploding football helmet shaped golf cart takes it down when it crashes, making the coach scream in frustration.
  • Bromantic Comedy: Even more so than the first film.
  • Bulletproof Vest: Played for Laughs, Schmidt wears one in his first meeting with his boss Dickson after the latter finds out that he had slept with his daughter.
    Jenko: Are you wearing a kevlar?
  • Call-Back:
    • As Jenko chases down The Ghost at Spring Break, he's impeded by a flock of doves, prompting him to yell, "Fuck you, doves!". This is a nod to the Disturbed Doves that Jenko insisted on having in the first film's prom scene.
    • In a lecture, the professor asks Jenko to answer his question, to which Jenko replies, "Covalent bond!" This is a reference to a central motif of the previous film.
    • The video game in the credits features exploding chickens and thugs on motorcycles with piñatas.
    • Once again, Schmidt makes things awkward by trying to use the race of the victim to prove that he's not racist.
  • The Cameo:
    • The interns at 22 Jump Street are the same group of cute nerds from Jenko's AP Chemistry class in the last film.
    • Schmidt & Jenko visit Eric and Mr. Walters in prison to get their advice on the case.
    • Patton Oswalt as a history professor.
    • H. Jon Benjamin is the football coach.
    • Queen Latifah is Dickson's wife and Maya's mother.
    • During the Credits Gag:
      • Bill Hader as a villainous chef in 27 Jump Street: Culinary School.
      • Seth Rogen as The Other Darrin to Jonah Hill in 29 Jump Street: Sunday School.
      • Anna Faris shows up in the Top Gun style sequel 30 Jump Street: Flight Academy.
      • Richard Grieco reprises his role from the original series for 33 Jump Street: Generations.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Schmidt & Jenko walk through the library, note that everything's on computers, and speculate that the only people who use the stacks are people having sex. Later they find out the drugs are being smuggled around the stacks in hollowed-out books.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The Ghost, who Schmidt and Jenko fail to apprehend in the opening, turns out to be part of the Big Bad Duumvirate.
  • Comically Missing the Point: Jenko repeatedly fails to get the point of improv comedy, saying it'd be funnier if it was planned out in advance.
  • Continuity Nod: Jenko has a scar where he took the bullet for Schmidt in the first film.
  • Credits Gag: The credits show possible concepts for future movies, from 23 Jump Street (med school) to 2121 Jump Street (undercover IN SPACE!)
  • Da Chief: Captain Dickson, but with his anger stemming from Schmidt & Jenko's lack of progress in the investigation, and that Jump Street's increased budget ran out after he spent most of it making the new headquarters a damn sight better than the old one. He's ultimately a subversion, since the thing he actually gets pissed off about is Schmidt sleeping with his daughter and Jenko's amusement at the revelation.
    • Despite finding out suddenly that Schmidt is sleeping with his daughter, Dickson still doesn't blow his officer's cover at the college's "Parents Weekend Brunch" between his family and Schmidt's family. He does take revenge against Schmidt later though back at Jump Street headquarters.
    Captain Dickson's wife (regarding "Doug"): "You two know each other?"
    Captain Dickson (with full Death Glare): "No."
  • Daddy's Little Villain: Mercedes is a variation — instead of being a seductive vamp, she's a brat who takes amusement in people being shot. In fact, she's the exact type of criminal that her own father decries working with at the start of the film.
  • The Dead Guy Did It: A college student named Cynthia is found dead from a drug called WHY-PHY loose on college campus and Jenko and Schmidt believe Zook is the dealer due to an incriminating tattoo from a photograph and finding WHY-PHY in his bag. They later find out he was just a buyer/user and the posthumous Cynthia (who they originally thought was a victim) was the dealer.
  • Disproportionate Retribution:
    • Mercedes mentions in passing that she framed her psychology professor for drug trafficking because he gave her a B-.
    • Jenko shooting at Schmidt for failing to take a bullet for him. After Schmidt had already saved Jenko from plummeting to his death a few minutes afterwards.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: As part of the upgraded Bromantic Comedy, most dialogue between Jenko and Zook has romantic/homoerotic overtones. Subsequently, Jenko and Schmidt have some as well — and Schmidt seeing both loudly working out is almost him watching a sex tape.
  • Droste Image: Dep. Chief Hardy has a photo hanging on the wall behind his desk — of him sitting at his desk, in the exact same position he's in when the camera catches the photo.
  • Dumbass Has a Point:
    • When Jenko doesn't tell Dickson that they've located the dealer as the tattoo in the photo points to it being Zook, he's not wrong to withhold that information — at the time, there's no other evidence that Zook is the dealer they're looking for.
    • Jenko suggesting that he and Schmidt follow different leads in their investigation is portrayed the same way as Schmidt doing so in the previous film, that he's falling too deep into his character. However, he's correct to do so, as Schmidt had just screwed up his chance of getting into the the frat alongside his partner and it would be a better use of his time to follow up other leads rather than just sit around waiting on Jenko.
    • Schmidt points out that it probably would've been beneficial for Captain Dickson to mention that he had a daughter studying at the college they were investigating. This does have some validity, especially given Schmidt and Jenko's history of fraternizing with female students and teachers on their previous case.
  • "Eureka!" Moment:
    • Schmidt realizing that the reason they've been getting nothing but dead ends is they've been looking at Cynthia as a victim and Zook as a potential suspect because Dickson said she was buying, when she could easily have been the dealer.
    • Dickson realizing that the girl Schmidt had earlier bragged about sleeping with was in fact his daughter.
      • Jenko putting two and two together on the same matter invokes this, complete with an audible "Ding!" when he figures it out.
  • Every Car Is a Pinto: Jenko and Schmidt's Camaro explodes when it's T-boned by Ghost's semi truck and the football helmet shaped golf cart explodes when it crashes into the goalpost.
  • Exact Words: Mercedes had told the Yang Twins not to get high on their own drugs. They didn't, they got high on each other's drugs.
    • When Jenko gets ready to lob a grenade, Schmidt tells him to say "something cool" when he does it. Jenko throws it and yells "SOMETHING COOL!"
  • Famous-Named Foreigner: When Jenko and Schmidt are pretending to be Latino gangsters at the beginning and Schmidt tells Jenko to tell a story, Jenko talks about his friends "Dora, Diego, Swiper, and Boots.
  • Fantastic Drug: WHY-PHY, also doubles as a drug with fantastic name. It gives whoever uses it 4 hours of complete focus on whatever they're doing, before they start tripping.
  • Foe Romance Subtext: Invoked during Schmidt's fist fight with Mercedes, as she starts trying to kiss him and seduce him into bed, even accusing him of doing so when he repeatedly rebuffs her advances.
  • Fun with Acronyms: WHY-PHY — Work Hard? Yes. Play Hard? Yes.
  • Generic Name: The adversary MCS faces in the football game is "University of College Generals".
  • George Lucas Altered Version: A Running Gag in Sony Pictures films by Phil Lord & Chris Miller is a sound of Chris Miller coughing at the Sony logo. This film introduced said running gag, but it would be removed from home video releases as they thought audiences may think there is an intruder at the home. Strangely, future Sony films by the duo such as the Spider-Man: Spider-Verse films and The Mitchells vs. the Machines kept this running gag even in home video releases.
  • Graceful Loser: Upon seeing that Jenko has a better friendship with Schmidt, Zook decides that they are better together, and allows the two to resume said partnership without conflict. To be fair, though, Zook must have realized that Jenko was undercover.
  • Grievous Harm with a Body: To be more precise: grievous harm with a stoned girl on spring break.
  • Groin Attack: How Dickson gets over Schmidt having screwed his daughter - shooting Schmidt in the balls with a taser.
  • Homoerotic Subtext: People mistake Schmidt and Jenko for a couple on more than one occasion, and the film generally treats Zook as "the other man" threatening to derail their partnership.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Dickson refers to Jenko as a "racist, sacreligious sack of shit" in the same breath as "Fuck Korean Jesus," a statue of whom was a feature in their previous office.
  • Improv Comedy Is Inane: Jenko suggests "tampon" and "boner" when asked to provide suggestions by an open-mic-night improv group. The man on stage rejects both before starting the game anyway.
  • In Name Only: The first film was a loose adaptation of the old series but it at least kept the name and basic concept. This movie has absolutely nothing in common with the TV show. The only connection this movie has with the series is that Richard Grieco and Dustin Nguyen cameo as Detective Dennis Booker and Harry Truman Ioki respectively.
  • Jerk Jock:
    • Subverted with Zook; he's pretty nice and doesn't have anything to do with WHY-PHY.
    • Played straight with Rooster, though, even if he's as completely innocent in the WHY-PHY business as Zook.
  • Karma Houdini: Played with — Ghost is shown to have survived the helicopter explosion in one of the pitched Jump Street sequels in the credits. There is, however, no indication that he actually survived the explosion in the actual film, and the sequence shouldn't be taken as canon since it also features Seth Rogen replacing Jonah Hill as Schmidt, a video game adaptation, and a sequel set in space.
    • Zook got practically caught by Jenko and it's assumed that he never got arrested for doing drugs, or at least served a punishment. Schmidt had evidence of Maya's shady criminal background that was never resolved, thanks to her dad.
    • Dickson gets away scott free with tazing Schmidt in the ballsack over what amounts to something minor.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: Upon realizing that the girl Schmidt slept with is Captain Dickson's daughter, Jenko goes around the base talking about it, making Dickson even more pissed at Schmidt. After a while, and stating that Captain Dickson high-fived Schmidt over it, Dickson takes the gun he was pointing at Schmidt on his desk and instead points it towards Jenko. Jenko very wisely takes this as his cue to stop talking.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Frequently, this time to action movie sequel tropes.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
    • Dept. Chief Hardy, during his speech as he assigns Schmidt & Jenko back to Jump Street, explains that expectations for the Jump Street revival were low, and thanks to the success found last time, Jump Street now has a bigger budget and that everyone expects them to just do the same thing over again. This, much like his speech about the Jump Street revival in the first film, can easily apply to both the film and the Jump Street undercover program.
    • During the second act, Dickson tells Schmidt and Jenko that Jump Street's budget is gone because of all of the needlessly extravagant upgrades he made to the headquarters and equipment. This culminates with the chase through the college campus where Schmidt and Jenko try, and spectacularly fail, to avoid destroying expensive things due to concerns about the Jump Street budget. Toward the end of the chase, the pair smash into a robotics showroom, and the camera has to stay outside. The boys emerge on the other side talking about all the expensive stuff they trashed while we couldn't see.
  • Living with the Villain:
    • Maya, Captain Dickson's daughter and Schmidt's love interest, is sharing her dorm room with Mercedes, one half of the Big Bad Duumvirate.
    • In a looser example, Jenko and Schmidt's room is across the hall from the Yang twins' room, with the twins being revealed to be WHY-PHY dealers in the climax.
  • Lock-and-Load Montage:
    • Inverted at the start of the film; Jenko and Schmidt's moving in scene has them listing off "necessary items" for their dorm room.
    • Played straight before the Spring Break climax as a Call-Back to the previous film's pre-Prom load out.
  • Medium Awareness: In the credits, Jenko is the only one who realizes Schmidt looks different when Seth Rogen briefly replaces Jonah Hill.
  • Meet Cute: Jenko drops his Q-tip into Zook's meat sandwich. The resultant product is called a "meat Q-tip" sandwich, shortened to Meet Cute.
  • Mundane Solution: The duo needs to get a view of Rooster's tattoo to confirm whether he's the suspect they're after. Schmidt tries first but his attempts to get close to him to look only anger him and make him suspicious of Schmidt's behavior. Later on, Jenko decides to simply ask Rooster about it and he gladly shows the full tattoo off to Jenko.
  • N+1 Sequel Title: 22 Jump Street. And 23 Jump Street, and 24 Jump Street...
  • Oh, Crap!: Schmidt, when Maya calls over her father, and Captain Dickson responds.
  • Once per Episode: Some of the most notable plot elements from the first movie return, including but not limited to:
    • Jenko and Schmidt entering a school environment to investigate a drug responsible for the death of a student and prevent it from going viral.
    • One of them getting in too deep in their undercover role with the popular crowd, leaving the other feeling left out and later leading to a major fallout between the partners which nearly jeopardizes the operation. This time around, it's Jenko.
    • Both Schmidt and Jenko undergoing a trip brought about by the drug.
    • Schmidt being in a relationship with a student.
    • A drug dealer in the opening eluding capture by the cops who is later revealed to be a Big Bad.
    • A car chase between the officers and the drug dealer which causes a large amount of property damage (and repeated Lampshade Hanging about action movie cliches) and ends with the temporary dissolution of Schmidt and Jenko's partnership.
    • The climax occurring at a major school event (Prom/Spring Break).
    • The other Big Bad being a student dealer and a recurring side character within the school. In this case, Mercedes acts as a Composite Character of Eric and Mr. Walters' roles from the first film.
    • A Mexican Standoff occurring during the climax wherein Jenko and Schmidt end up being saved by other undercover officers.
    • Jenko using a thrown explosive to destroy one of the Big Bad's vehicles during the finale.
    • The partners getting over their differences after stopping the drug from going viral, followed by Dickson sending them off on another school infiltration mission in The Stinger.
  • One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Most of the dialogue in this film doubles either as a) meta commentary on the nature of action film sequels, sequel films in general, and how Hollywood funds films and pays talent; or b) a breakdown and reconciliation of a homosexual couple when one falls for a third party. Calling both of these threads "thinly veiled" is being generous.
  • Papa Wolf: Both Ghost and Dickson.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: One of Ghost's men, thinking Jenko and Schmidt are having sex, calls them a couple of faggots. Jenko lectures them on this:
    Jenko: It's 2014, asshole. You can't fucking use faggot. Gay is okay. Homosexual, maybe. And if you know the person, you might be able to call them a queer... if they have a great sense of humor, but I don't.
    Schmidt: I'm sorry. He took one human sexuality class, and he thinks he's Harvey Milk.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Jenko attempts one when blowing up Ghost's helicopter with a grenade as per Schmidt's suggestion, but he can't think of anything, so he just says 'something cool'.
  • Previously on…: The movie begins with a sequence recapping the events of the first movie.
  • Punny Name: WHY-PHY. It's even lampshaded with Jenko saying that you can get wi-fi 24/7 on campus, only for Schmidt to question if he meant WHY-PHY the drug or wi-fi the internet.
  • Real Trailer, Fake Movie: The film ends with a series of increasingly ridiculous sequel ideas.
  • Recycled In Space:
    • The film frequently mocks that it's "21 Jump Street in college". It is true, since the two films do follow the same basic plot, but with a few points of divergence (The initial victim being a dealer rather than just a student who took the drug, for example), which get Schmidt & Jenko to stop treating it like it's the same case as last time.
    • The end credits mock the idea of Jump Street becoming a Cash Cow Franchise by depicting Schmidt & Jenko in (fittingly enough, considering the title of this film) twenty two sequels, mostly taking place in other schools before culminating with 2121 Jump Street — undercover in SPACE.
  • Red Herring:
    • Literally. Rooster's tattoo is of his old team's mascot, said team being the Plainview Red Herrings, eliminating him as a suspect from the case.
    • Later in the film Jenko and Schmidt believe Zook is the dealer due to an incriminating tattoo from a photograph and finding WHY-PHY in his bag. They later find out he was just a buyer/user and Cynthia (who they originally thought was a victim) was the dealer.
  • Reference Overdosed: Twice as insane compared to the first movie.
  • Remake Cameo: Steven Williams as Adam Fuller, Dustin Nguyen as Harry Truman loki, and Richard Grieco as Dennis Booker in the proposed Jump Street Generations featured in the credits.
  • The Reveal:
    • Maya is Dickson's daughter.
    • Zook was the buyer, not the dealer.
    • Mercedes is Ghost's daughter, and the actual dealer on campus.
  • Rewatch Bonus: The scene where Schmidt brags about having sex with a student and Captain Dickson high-fiving him for it (while noting the student isn't that smart if she's an arts major) becomes more hilarious upon rewatching the film with the knowledge Maya is Captain Dickson's daughter.
  • Running Gag:
    • Jenko wanting a Lamborghini.
    • Mercedes firing off quips about Schmidt's age.
  • Self-Deprecation: Repeatedly.
    • Numerous jokes about how Tatum and Hill are too old to convincingly portray college freshmen.
    • Numerous jokes about the bigger budget, and how people expect them to just do the same thing over again.
  • Sequel Hook: Early in the film, the boys pass by the "23 Jump Street" address, which is already in development.
  • Sequel Snark: The end of the movie lays out around twenty more sequels for the series.
  • Shout-Out:
    • A poster of Devo, the band of the film's composer Mark Mothersbaugh.
    • During the car chase across the MC State campus, the cars repeatedly cross the Benjamin Hill Center for Film Studies. The soundtrack even adds some saxophones at this point to make the reference even more blatant.
    • Captain Dickson refers to the new, overly expensive Jump Street headquarters as the sort of thing you'd expect from Iron Man.
    • The Ghost repeatedly refers to Jenko as a Terminator.
    • Jenko complains to Schmidt that it takes him too long to run down stairs. Schmidt counters that he can't do Spider-Man jumps like Jenko. Jenko then does a crazy Spider-Man jump over a railing.
    • Zook says he and Jenko can be like the Dynamic Duo, except they'll both be Batman.
    • Jenko trying to get Zook to play with lobsters before cooking them is a reference to a similar scene in Annie Hall between Woody Allen and his lover.
  • Single-Minded Twins: Keith and Kenny Yang. They end up de-synched for a while, since they're stoned, in the finale.
  • Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Peter Stormare as The Ghost only appears very briefly in the promotional materials, in the clips taken from the film's opening.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: Humorously subverted with Schmidt and Mercedes in the climax.
  • Stealth Pun: After Schmidt tries several to get a view of Rooster's tattoo, he enthusiastically says it's one of "His old high school team - the Plainview Red Herrings."
  • Stock Scream: The Wilhelm Scream can be heard in the robotics lab.
  • The Stoic: Mercedes appears to be this, but it's a ruse.
  • String Theory: In reference to the web seen in the previous movie which showed various students, this web has all the suspects indicated with question marks.
  • Stylistic Suck: Zook and "Brad's" Scout Reel
  • Take Our Word for It: During the final car chase, the pair are alarmed by the cost of all the things they're destroying. Then their car smashes into a robotics showroom, but the camera stays outside. When the car emerges, the pair make comments about smashing all the "expensive stuff in there."
  • Take That!:
    • The credits sequence, starting with a Call Back to the previous film's Sequel Hook, swiftly becomes one to the Franchise Zombie/Cash Cow Franchise concept by pitching over a dozen potential Jump Street sequels that put Schmidt and Jenko in various other schools with increasing absurdity.
    • During Schmidt and Jenko's first meeting with Capt. Hardy, Jenko complains that he doesn't want to keep doing the same thing. He suggests that they could be Secret Service agents, to which Schmidt and Hardy basically say it's a dumb idea.
  • Taking the Bullet: Schmidt promises he will take a bullet for Jenko this time. He tries during the final shoot-out, but misses, so the bullet still hits Jenko. Later, Jenko tries to shoot Schmidt, but the bullet bounces back against a mirror, so Jenko gets hit again.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: Schmidt wears a Bulletproof Vest to his first meeting with Dickson after finding out that he hooked up with his daughter.
  • Took A Level In Bad Ass: Jenko's AP Chemistry buddies have gone from helping out with surveillance in the first film to taking part in the final stand off with the drug dealers with assault rifles.
  • Wham Shot: After starting a relationship with Schmidt, Maya calls her dad over to greet him at a parents' brunch: it's Captain Dickson.
    Dickson: What the fuck?!
  • Who's on First?: Immediately after blowing up Ghost's helicopter with a grenade, Schmidt repeatedly asks Jenko what he said when he threw the grenade, with Jenko telling him that he said "Something cool" - which he did actually say.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Lampshaded humorously during Schmidt's confrontation against Mercedes in the climax, although it is more random punching than an actual fight.
    Schmidt: I'm not gonna fight a girl. So just stop.
    Mercedes Shouldn't matter. If you thought of me as a person instead of a woman, you would hit me and not feel bad about it!
  • Writers Cannot Do Math: Schmidt graduated high school in 2005. He shouldn't have been turning 30 in 2014.

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