3. Don't: Send Schmidt And Jenko to College
Now, I know the ending of the first film had Ice Cube's Captain Dickson tell Schimdt and Jenko they were going to college for their next assignment, which is the obvious continutation of the story. But for me, I think the filmmakers should skip the college storyline. Here's why: I don't think the college setting will work as dramatically or comedically as the high school setting. In the first film the high school setting suited Schmidt and Jenko's backstories and their development as characters. In the beginning of the film, we that Schmidt was the uncool kid and Jenko was the popular jock, albeit one that was insecure about his intelligence. When they got older they both joined the police force and became friends, no longer completely defined by their high school stereotypes. When they both go undercover at a high school, they get their undercover identities mixed up, with Jenko taking science classes and Schmidt taking classes that put him in with the cool crowd. The film showed that despite how much Schmidt and Jenko seemingly grew up, they still suffered from their high school era insecurities. Schmidt gets in way too deep with the kids he's supposed to be investigating in relation to a drug ring, which ultimately gets in the way of Schmidt and Jenko's friendship, as well as their assignment. The film also demonstrated how high school dynamics have changed over the years. What is considered "cool" is much different then when Schmidt and Jenko were in high school- thanks in part, as Jenko mentions, to "Glee." By the time you get to college, everyone's pretty much grown out their respective high school sterotypes. College seems dramatically "shallower" a setting compared to high school and I don't think it'll lend itself to as rich character development for Schmidt and Jenko as we saw in the first film. I think the ending of the first film works best as a mocking of the obligatory sequel set-up in Hollywood films, emphasized by Jenko's "No!" that ends the film. In fact, the college storyline may work best as a running gag throughout the sequel as something mentioned in passing- something could have gone horribly wrong during the assignment that we don't completely learn about until the end of film. I don't know what setting the film could utilize but setting the film outside a school environment could allow a more unique story.