Cert 15
112 mins
BBFC advice: Contains frequent strong language, strong sex references, violence
Sunday evening after a game of golf and neither Mrs W nor I were particularly looking forward to 22 Jump Street.
We feared it would be laboring the joke of its predecessor but in fact it gave us a right good giggle.
This time Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's movie finds undercover cops (Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum) in college, investigating the drug-induced death of a student but before anyone will trust them, they have to build up their profile as under-graduates.
Inevitably, this leads to farcical situations for both with Tatum's football-playing hard-drinking character settling down rather better than the more sensitive and cerebral Hill.
But, when it comes to getting the girl, the geek springs a surprising success.
I admit that 22 Jump Street goes over quite a bit of old ground (eg the mickey-taking relationship between the duo and their Jump Street captain).
However, there is enough fresh material to elicit laughs as was proven in screen 2 of Nottingham Cineworld.
The key to the ribaldry is timing which Tatum and Hill both possess and is enhanced by some pinpoint direction.
Tatum and Hill have had chequered careers when it comes to critics' appraisal of their films but here they both hit the mark and both seem to be enjoying their work.
22 Jump Street never takes itself remotely seriously. Even the chase scenes are self-mocking (spot the Benjamin Hill institute which is the backdrop to one of them).
It sets out to give cinema-goers a laugh and provides plenty of them right down to the final credits.
Laughs: seven out loud
Jumps: one
Vomit: yes
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8/10