Movies that adapt TV series seem risky to begin with, but when those cinematic “reboots” radically transform the source, matters become even dicier. That was the situation that greeted 2012’s 21 Jump Street, a tongue in cheek take on the 1980s teen action-drama. Given the cheesiness of the original, comedy probably was the right way to go, but it came with risks.

Happily, 21 Jump Street did a lot more right than wrong and turned into a pretty terrific little comedic romp – and a successful one, too. With a US gross of $138 million, a sequel became a done deal, and we got that second chapter via 2014’s 22 Jump Street.

After a gig undercover at a high school, police officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) get a new assignment: to play college students and locate the source of a new drug that killed a student. This leads to challenges in their friendship as well as new relationships with others they meet in school as they balance college life and their investigation.

Going into 2014, I viewed directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as a fine filmmaking team. After all, I’d really enjoyed their prior two movies - 21 Jump Street and 2009’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - as terrific entertainment, so why wouldn’t I like their two 2014 releases as well?

Strike one: the erratic and disappointing Lego Movie. Everyone else seemed to love it, but I thought Lego lacked much inventiveness or cleverness. Oh well, I still could look forward to 22 Jump Street, right?

Strike two – and a bigger whiff than Lego, in my opinion. Lego fell short for me, but it still had some good moments.

On the other hand, 22 Jump becomes nearly lifeless, as it does little more than rehash the same kinds of gags as its predecessor but with weaker results.

Actually, despite a few missteps, the first act seems reasonably entertaining. The biggest problems come from too many self-referential jokes, as the movie winks at itself too consciously. These gags don’t fly and feel forced.

Otherwise, the initial half-hour or so delivers a mix of amusing bits. It gives us a fairly satisfying combination of action and comedy to set up the story in a likeable manner.

Once it delves more heavily into its main themes, though, 22 Jump falters. Much of the movie concentrates on Jenko’s relationship with football buddy Zook (Wyatt Russell) as well as Schmidt’s romance with fellow student Maya (Amber Stevens).

The entertainment nearly grinds to a halt as the movie explores these avenues in a largely tedious manner. Although it continues to attempt lots of comedy, these moments tend to fall flat.

The longer the film goes, the less satisfying it becomes, as it diverges into various story elements that seem uninspired and that simply tend to plod. When the tale should go to a higher level during a big spring break segment, instead it just grinds its gears with lackluster comedy and action.

Although 22 Jump made a lot of money, we have yet to get a third chapter. If one ever arrives, hopefully it’ll come with more inspiration, as 22 Jump delivers a mostly flat, lackluster comedy.

Footnote: stick around through the end of the credits for a tag scene.

22 Jump Street appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a top-notch presentation.

Sharpness looked good. No issues with softness occurred, so the film felt accurate and concise.

No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge enhancement remained minor. Source flaws also failed to create problems.

In terms of colors, 22 Jump Street went with “action-standard” orange and teal. As much as I dislike those choices, they made sense here. 22 Jump operates as a parody of Michael Bay-style movies, so I can understand the colors, and they work fine.

Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows showed good delineation. Overall, this was a pleasing presentation.

Similar thoughts greeted the good DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of 22 Jump Street. I felt the soundscape delivered an involving experience in which the action scenes offered a nice sense of impact.

The film packed plenty of these elements, so we got many instances of gunfire, explosions, and other lively tidbits. Overall, the mix filled out the room in a satisfying manner.

Audio quality was positive. Speech came across as natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music showed good range, and effects offered a nice sense of impact. These were the kind of loud, impressive elements one would anticipate, as they showed solid clarity. This was a good soundtrack.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? The lossless audio added warmth and impact, and visuals looked better defined and more vivid. This turned into a nice upgrade over the DVD.

The Blu-ray includes the DVD’s extras plus plenty of exclusives, and we find an audio commentary from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and actors Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. All four sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast/performances, sets and locations, editing and deleted scenes, stunts, music and other areas.

If you want a sober examination of filmmaking topics, stay away from this chat. The directors and actors joke around much of the time and make this a light, jovial piece – which is good and bad.

It’s good because it adds a lot of fun to the discussion. It’s bad because it means we don’t learn as much as we might like about the movie.

Oh, we get a decent amount of info along the way, but the laughing and happy talk dominate the track. Still, this is a mostly entertaining commentary and an easy listen.

22 Deleted & Extended Scenes fill a total of 39 minutes, 52 seconds. This offers a major expansion of the material from the DVD, as it included only five sequences.

These mostly tend to be pretty interesting, as only a few become tedious. They throw in some cameos and usually seem fun.

Not that this means I think all – or most – should’ve made the final cut, as plenty go on too long for that context. Still, on their own, they often entertain.

We can view the deleted scenes with or without commentary from Lord and Miller. They tell us a little about the sequences and let us know why the moments got cut in their informative chat.

Six featurettes appear, and we start with a repeat from the DVD. The Perfect Couple of Directors goes for nine minutes, 36 seconds and features Lord, Miller, Tatum, Hill, and actors Amber Stevens, Keith and Kenny Lucas, Ice Cube, Jillian Bell and Wyatt Russell.

We get thoughts about the sequel as well as the impact Lord and Miller had on the production. A few good notes emerge but this usually seems pretty fluffy.

Everything Is Better In College spans seven minutes, 49 seconds and features Lord, Miller, Hill, Stevens, Russell, Tatum, Keith Lucas and Kenny Lucas.

The program looks at the movie’s university setting and connected domains. It’s largely fluffy but still fun.

With the seven-minute, 37-second Janning and Chonah. we hear from Tatum, Lord, Miller, Hill, Ice Cube, executive producer Reid Carolin, and actor Jimmy Tatro.

Here we cover the team of Hill and Tatum. Despite some enjoyable footage from the shoot, the piece focuses too much on happy talk to succeed.

New Recruits fills nine minutes, 45 seconds with notes from Hill, Russell, Lord, Miller, Tatro, Carolin, Stevens, Keith Lucas, Kenny Lucas, and Bell.

The featurette looks at supporting characters and actors. Expect another superficial program.

After this we get The Perfect Line, a seven-minute, nine-second segment that offers info from Lord, Miller, Stevens, Tatro, and Tatum. They discuss the movie’s improvisation, and we get plenty of examples in this largely enjoyable reel.

For the last featurette, Don’t Cut Yet occupies eight minutes, 36 seconds and shows multiple angles of the prison scene. It doesn’t provide an uncut performance, but it lets us see the actors as they roll through the sequence, and that makes it cool.

Joke-A-Palooza runs five minutes, 59 seconds and brings a slew of short comedic bits. They’re not alternate lines but they’re also way too brief to become deleted scenes. They’re consistently fun.

For more cut footage, we head to five Line-O-Rama compilations. With a total nine minutes, 37 seconds and see many alternate pieces of dialogue. These offer some amusement.

A few oddball clips round out the disc, and The Dramatic Interpretation of 22 Jump Street takes up nine minutes, 59 seconds. This claims to offer an edit of the movie that eliminates the comedy and turns 22 into a traditional cop drama. It’s a clever concept and interesting to see.

Zook & McQuaid Scout Reel lasts two minutes, 17 seconds and gives us a full look at the terrible promo clip our “dumb jocks” create. I like our ability to see the whole thing and not just the snippets in the released film.

Finally, Jenko Split runs 45 seconds and shows a goofy “test reel” from the set in which Tatum attempts a very wide leg-spread – and fails miserably. Expect minor laughs.

The disc opens with ads for The Interview, Sex Tape, (2014), When the Game Stands Tall and Home Sweet Hell. No trailer for 22 Jump Street shows up here.

We also get a DVD copy of the film. It offers the limited roster of extras mentioned in the prior review.

After the pleasures of the first film, I went into 22 Jump Street with high hopes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t satisfy, as it provides a slow comedy that gets less interesting as it goes. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture and audio as well as a slew of bonus materials. If we ever get 23 Jump Street, hopefully it will work better than this forgettable sequel.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of 22 JUMP STREET