22 Jump Street

The lights of the high school hallway had faded, only to make way for the bright neon glow of a new world - the college campus. Officers Schmidt and Jenko stood at the threshold, armed with nothing but their quick wit, eager faces, and a slight hint of skepticism about where their ill-fated partnership might be headed. After navigating through the world of high school - no, scratch that, they did it twice, as high school alumni of a mission where they went undercover as high school students - these unlikely duo would once again make their way through an unfamiliar environment, but this time, with even higher stakes on the table and a seemingly impossible mission in their sights. The year was 2014, and the movie 22 Jump Street was about to kick off, ready to chronicle the hilarious misadventures of Schmidt and Jenko as they entered the heart of learning. This sequel expanded on the momentum established by its predecessor, ushering audiences into a world much more unpredictable and unforgiving. A major difference this time around was that they were no longer fish out of water in the same way they navigated the ups and downs of high school. No, in this case, it was college that had become their playground - now an off-limits area where they, under the disguise of two of "normal" college students, only had one objective in mind: crack the notorious Eric Molstad Ring drug deal. Things were supposed to go smoothly. However, they appeared be going quite awry from the very moment they hit the college campus grounds. Jenko and Schmidt would become the most unlikely college students you could ever imagine - with personalities clashing in every way imaginable - and very early on in the mission, would start to experience different worlds. Jenko hooked up with a more mature version of himself - the football team, whose alpha-male jocks mirrored the duo's high-school antics perfectly. His more straightforward, less-than-excitable views were brought head-to-head with the sheer intellect, coupled with an astoundingly open-spirited attitude of his friend, who dived himself deep into finding an anti-establishment vibe amongst the art students. It felt as if they once again had stepped into the surreal limbo of completely unknown territory, except now with an unspoken understanding that their diverging personalities would continue well into adulthood, but there was also this faint glimmer of hope on the horizon. Schmidt, as deep in the world of self-discovery he was, had the daunting chance of understanding the depths of his previously unclear feelings about his friend. For him and Jenko, tackling their real relationship questions was about to join the tasks-at-hand in their particular undercover mission - they did not have anything other to only crack the case; now they would have to figure out - in an uncharted ground of a modern society - what their adult lives looked like and the kind of family they would form as they tried out an unstable marriage of youthfulness and adulthood. Despite the challenges, they remained glued to each other's side, forming a bond that stretched far beyond the boundaries of a duty-driven partnership. It transcended into that of a true, yet seemingly illogical friendship, each ready when the other gave and willing to explore uncharted territories if they could have a mature relationship - a bond between Schmidt and Jenko they two guys who could never imagine they ever had it, or even possessed a chance at a relationship. Their friendship and partnerships were under immense observational scrutiny, which the world continuously judges day in and day out, only trying to subdue them at every possible step. After a series of their side-splitting misadventures, farcical encounters and outlandish moments later, our two undercover agents would embark on a beautiful friendship that came perilously close to transitioning into romance. The characters who we often described as awkwardly charismatic and often laughably amateurish went from fumbling high school seniors and into their adulthood in a most spectacular way. Schmidt, with characteristic passion, went under the college university art scene - its bohemian majors delving deep into far-out experimentation, politics and everything else under the sun. No long-term knowledge they had picked up until that day about fine arts would seem to hold as a way of stopping the vibrant students there before them. Schmidt, somewhat perplexed but willing to give out whatever was required, as befuddling and bizarre as things became, was at least willing to question the rather self-proclaimed leaders of rebellion at the bohemian art scene. Channing Tatum, with his unmatched sportsman spirit, and Jonah Hill's lovable oddball characterization found a perfect comedic outlet in their relationship which even far stretched the common film genre - with an intriguing story about forging a bond in college amidst life-altering choices. This college foray was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to a degree not even the movie's writers had anticipated. Filmmaker Phil Lord cleverly crafted a narrative so free, so outrageous and uncurbed in just expressing the 1980s and 1990s phenomenon in this contemporary fashion, and ultimately with movie making. It was more authentic and came out so better than the generation's earlier, initially flailing predecessors.