Netflix’s The Kissing Booth 2 – A Tired Sequel

Even in 2020, the teens and the tweens still have all the power. After the success of 2018’s The Kissing Booth, based on the book by Beth Reekles, here were are with a sequel with the shocking title of The Kissing Booth 2. After the original, it is easy to wonder where a sequel could go. The answer to that question is not that much further. While our characters have grown up, the sequel definitely hasn’t. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Nevertheless, the film will surely still appeal to the fans of the original by tapping into those same, generic teen cliches and tropes though also dialing up the melodrama for a final product that is surprisingly longer than the original film, clocking in almost 30 minutes longer with a running time of 132 minutes. Suffice it to say that more isn’t necessarily better as it simply makes the film even more of a chore to watch for anyone outside of its target demographic (myself included).

As mentioned, The Kissing Booth 2 saw Elle (King) and Lee (Courtney) enter their last years of high school and on the precipice of the rest of their lives. It also saw their lifelong friendship at a crossroads as it would be tested once again here. Looking back at the original, there was already some distance growing between them. While these besties clearly couldn’t be at each other’s side forever, they made the best of what little time they may have had left though their lives would often come in the way. Lee was still with Rachel (Meganne Young) and Elle was still with Noah (Elordi) but their relationship was a long-distance one which presented its own set of challenges with him now across the country at Harvard. The latter were at a stage in their lives where they were still learning about themselves (all the characters had to do this in one form or another) so she wanted to trust him and give him space so he could figure himself out and what he wanted while she more or less did the same, however, his playboy reputation was understandably a cause for concern and that concern at one point seemed warranted. Meanwhile, Elle faced plenty of distractions of her own to lead her astray. The only question was how the characters would end up by the end.

As The Kissing Booth 2 still has an arguably tone deaf and obnoxious story with no discernable message that tapped into all the same cliches and tropes without seemingly trying to do anything different, nothing whatsoever should come as that much of a surprise to anyone. This sequel wasn’t as much about the relationship between Elle and Lee but it and their extensive set of rules for one another still had a major impact on the plot as Elle, Lee and Noah went about their own subplots (perhaps contributing to the longer running time compared to the original). While Elle managed her long-distance relationship with Noah and tried to get into her dream college with Lee, a very handsome new classmate (and one who just happened to look like Noah) named Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) threatened to further complicate things for her. She knew this therefore their relationship did not get off on the right foot. However, they were inevitable whether they want to admit it or not. From there, it was only a matter of how it will affect everything else by the end (though the result shouldn’t come as much of a surprise). Meanwhile, a The Kissing Booth 3 isn’t out of the question.

Despite everything, the best part of both Kissing Booth films was still the relationship between Elle and Lee. Just like the original, the majority of The Kissing Booth 2  is coated with a thick layer of cheese and mediocrity but in the end, King and Courtney do their best as Elle and Lee as their stellar chemistry does somewhat make up for that though they could only do so much. While the dialog and melodrama may be be dull, they were fun to watch together. Meanwhile, Elordi as Noah appeared to struggle with the emotional side of the character and was on the wooden side more often than not (though it wasn’t necessarily his fault). Also, Perez as Marco is an undeniable talent.

At the end of the day, The Kissing Booth 2 will surely excite fans of the original but in essence is another tired entry in an already crowded subgenre that is destined to be forgotten shortly after watching.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.