Big, Dumb and Beautiful, It's a True Formula-Drinker

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2015)

A return to the well for Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in every conceivable way, doggedly following the same formula that brought them success the first time around. Somehow, it's just as good. Maybe it's because there's nothing quite like this elsewhere on the scene, so we're just scratching that blatantly self-aware, cliché-seeking itch once every couple of years and it hasn't yet worn out its welcome. At least, not entirely - the constant winks and nods do begin to grate by the end of the third act - but a heavy dose of loud, fresh, full-body laughs do a fine job of smoothing it all over. Ice Cube, in an expanded role, is especially great, shamelessly stealing scenes like a serial kleptomaniac. Of course it's not to be taken remotely seriously, even in comparison to the original, which is a good thing because the plot is a totally vacant, paper-thin wash. Does mindless comedy still have a place in today's landscape? It does in my living room.