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Film Review: 'The Kissing Booth 2'

Improvements and fumbles merge to balance each other out and make an enjoyable dramedy sequel.

By Trevor WellsPublished 4 years ago Updated 3 years ago 7 min read
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Despite spending an amazing summer with him before he headed off to Harvard, Elle Evans (Joey King) still finds herself uncertain of what the future holds for her fire-forged relationship with Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi). With college just around the corner and change also impacting her relationship to her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney), Elle is more confused now than ever before. On top of it all, Elle also finds herself entangled with Marco Peña (Taylor Zakhar Perez), a handsome new student at her school who has usurped Noah's position as the senior heartthrob.

While Elle initially can't stand Marco, she ends up forming a friendship with him as circumstances bring them together--which only makes her more confused in regards to her relationship with Noah. In the end, will Elle's latest love dilemma end in disaster--or with her finally finding out who she really wants?

Hard to believe that The Kissing Booth, the teen romantic dramedy that took Netflix by storm and drew just as much controversy, came out two years ago. It was during the earlier part of my time writing for Vocal, and looking back, I can see my review of the original (like many of my earlier works) wasn't the best in terms of quality, both writing and criticism wise. In hindsight, I'd probably give it an 8 or a 7 rather than the 9 I originally gave it. But looking back, I can still argue that The Kissing Booth was a fun and fluffy little dramedy that--barring some annoying moments--wasn't as misogynistic and degrading as other critics made it out to be. As for The Kissing Booth 2, it manages to maintain most of the zaniness and heart that made the original so watchable. While it stumbles a good amount of times, it's nothing that the movie doesn't recover from through its stronger points.

Starting with positives, The Kissing Booth 2 delivers the same charming atmosphere as the original. In a surprising move, the film has stretches that focus less on romance and more on Elle either getting into hilariously entertaining antics or dealing with her self-doubt issues. It makes for an interesting dynamic, and plays well off the first movie's start to Elle's character growth. The Kissing Booth 2 also builds more off of the arcade dancing game that was simply a character quirk in the first film, building it into an entire subplot revolving around a dancing competition that leads to some stellar dance/musical sequences (one of which boasts some beautiful cinematography). Speaking of, the music is just as compelling as the original, with its mix of contemporary tunes and more nostalgic tracks.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

The romance aspects of the plot, however, prove to have some holes in it. All the conflicts with The Kissing Booth 2 have some element of frustration to them, with some being made worse by the fact that it causes lessons learned from the first movie getting ignored. The most egregious has to do with Elle lying to Lee about applying to Harvard and other colleges. The plot thankfully doesn't go down the degrading route I feared it might; Noah never pressures Elle to choose Harvard over Berkeley, and Lee's anger at finding out seems more rooted in Elle lying to him than considering other colleges. The problem comes in the fact that, after all that happened in the first movie, you'd think Elle would've learned the consequences of keeping secrets from her best friend.

Even more annoying, however, is the Lee/Rachel conflict subplot. After spending the first movie being a flat love interest for Lee, The Kissing Booth 2 has Rachel suddenly becoming an excessively jealous brat who's angry at Lee for the crime of being close with Elle. You know a character is in a bad place when she gives her boyfriend the ultimatum of choosing between her and his lifelong childhood friend, and it's not even her most annoying moment of the movie. The fact that Lee goes along with it and lies to both Rachel and Elle about it rubs salt in the wound, and the fact that Rachel never apologizes for her actions sticks a hot curling iron into it. Despite this, Meganne Young gives a strong performance that makes use of her extended screentime from the first movie, and does what she can to redeem Rachel of her petty jealousy.

Speaking of, now we have the central Elle/Noah conflict--more specifically, the "Crazy Jealous Elle" conflict. While Elle's doubts about her and Noah's relationship and fears of losing him are sympathetic and relatable, what isn't is the fact that Elle immediately becomes jealous and suspicious upon seeing Noah has a close female friend in Chloe at Harvard, and it only gets worse when she finds "proof" to back up her belief. That proof? Some innocuous texts between friends and an earring under Noah's bed that could've gotten there through a plethora of circumstances beyond adultery. Even more insulting is Elle confronting Noah on his alleged cheating over Thanksgiving dinner--not long after she essentially cheated on Noah by kissing Marco!

Thankfully, most of these conflicts are resolved by the time the credits roll, with everyone barring Rachel admitting to and apologizing for their foolish actions. The film also ends on a similar note of realism to the first movie, even though it has Elle lying again--now to Lee, Noah, and Rachel--about getting accepted into both Harvard and Berkeley. But with a third Kissing Booth likely to materialize, here's hoping that decision will be explored in the future.

(One conflict I actually wish was a part of the movie: Lee's potential hurt feelings regarding Elle and Marco's kiss. After coming to accept Elle and Noah's relationship in the first movie, you'd expect he'd at least have something to say about Elle betraying his brother. It would've allowed for a more emotionally resonant conflict, and opened the door for development of Noah and Lee's brotherly relationship--something which both movies have kept in the far background)

Spoilers Over

The Kissing Booth 2 did throw me a curveball in regards to character, and it's one I hope more critics take notice of: the character development of Noah Flynn. While Noah's actions in the original may have raised eyebrows and drawn accusations of sexism and domestic abuse, The Kissing Booth 2 allows us to see a change in Noah. He's shed all the short-tempered and controlling qualities that made viewers of the first movie despise him, and when put to the test, Noah proves he's truly curbed his temper once and for all. SPOILER ALERT Even his rage about Elle's betrayal is surprisingly restrained, and this is a situation where it would be understandable for him to get his rage on. Spoilers Over As such, Noah is an easier character to root for, making Elle's entanglement with Marco all the more conflicting.

Joey King and Jacob Elordi bring their regular amounts of charm to their characters, with Elordi working well with Noah's improved-upon character. Joel Courtney does the same and brings his all to Lee's emotional moments, allowing you to feel for him even as he dips into the same problematic behaviors he displayed in the first movie. Returning supporting player Judd Krok is a surprise powerhouse as Ollie's heartwarming subplot gets better focus than it did in the original movie, and Frances Sholto-Douglas is allowed some more effective screentime and comedic bits to play with. Maisie Richardson-Sellers, meanwhile, makes quite the impact for a sequel-introduced original character. She plays the upbeat and confident Chloe with effortless charisma and warmth, sharing as strong a chemistry with Elordi as King does and bringing a lot of heart to the film as she becomes a voice of reason among the chaos.

Taylor Zakhar Perez is similarly charming as Marco, forming chemistry with Elle during their unlikely friendship and even delivering a few heartfelt moments when we see the soft side beneath Marco's outwardly indestructible shell. But his good qualities are dragged down by Marco's continued pursuit of Elle even after learning about Noah and SPOILER ALERT at one point trying to goad Noah into a fight Spoilers Over--the former action being something the movie never calls Marco out for. It's enough for his character to leave a sour taste in my mouth, despite all the charisma and heart Perez gives to Marco.

While the Spoiler section may make it appear The Kissing Booth 2 falls apart under the weight of its flaws, the movie (like its predecessor) manages to recover from these stumbles. Along with having all the charm and heart of its original--and at times, even more of the latter--and bringing growth to its once troublesome male lead, this sequel proves effective at building off the original and correcting where it fell flat. While it creates a few problems to replace the ones it fixes, The Kissing Booth 2 is still a fun teen flick that's a worthy follow-up to the original.

Score: 8 out of 10 moonshots.

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About the Creator

Trevor Wells

Aspiring writer and film lover: Lifetime, Hallmark, indie, and anything else that strikes my interest. He/him.

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Twitter: @TrevorWells98

Instagram: @trevorwells_16

Email: [email protected]

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