I love high school comedy films, and I have no shame in saying so. I probably love them more than the average person does. In fact, when I’m not watching new 2020 releases, I’ve spent these last few months binge-watching late ’90s/early 2000s teen comedies on a quest for the best (But I’m a Cheerleader is currently winning), all of them being first watches for me.
Unfortunately, Netflix teen comedies are different. Aside from 2018’s buddy hike flick The Package (the closest any of these films have come to being a “good” film), they all follow the same formula – a pretty girl gets the option to choose between two perfect guys and they have low-stakes misadventures, wherein she ends up choosing the less douchey of the two. It’s a simple approach – one that works in the films I’ve been binging – but the problem lies in context: today’s definition of “comedy” makes the hijinks the teens end up in either completely unrealistic or stolen from older films. The Kissing Booth, another Netflix-exclusive 2018 release, was a big offender in this way – it was not only unfunny, but also a completely sexist look at teenage love. In fact, I only bothered to watch the sequel to see just how much worse it could get. The Kissing Booth 2 places Vince Marcello behind the camera for the second time, and manages to take everything bad about the first film and make it worse in every way. Much like its main character, Elle Evans (Joey King), it simply cannot make up its mind.
This time, Elle must navigate life through her senior year of high school after her boyfriend, Noah (Jacob Elordi), leaves for college. They decide to give a long distance relationship a try, a promise that is obviously not helped by the arrival of Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez), a bad-boy transfer student. With his curly greasy hair and guitar playing, he soon makes long distance relationship a tough task for Elle, who is already turned into the doubting girlfriend; as she is jealous of Noah’s gorgeous new friend Chloe (Maisie Richardson). Any other high school movie would have perhaps been content with so much on their plate, but this is a Netflix high school movie we’re talking about here, so it’s never satisfied. Elle’s love quadrangle is only half of her storyline – because there’s conflicts brewing between Elle, her kind but woefully clueless best friend Lee (Joel Courtney) and his snobby girlfriend Rachel. While Elle and Lee’s friendship, their Dance Dance Revolution sessions and easy, electric chemistry make for some of the best things about the film, Rachel is not so cool with Elle third-wheeling. If the break-ups and the proclamations of the core quadrangle were too much to keep track of, this only adds to the chaos. There is just too much to follow from too many angles, which only makes the film more directionless.
Even with constant voiceovers on what the characters feel and learn, it still gets confusing to keep up with the musings and motivations of each character. Many distracting side characters from the first film are given extra importance here, making it a very confusing watch. Unfortunately, even with a sliver of hope from some scenes with Elle and Lee, the film is incredibly stretched. The “humor” is unbearable, like a Disney Channel original movie but somehow worse, and every joke that would be funny in another film isn’t because it drags on for way too long. And it’s not just the funny scenes that do this – every single scene drags on for a minute or two longer than it should, which makes this a torturous 2-hour watch, and simply watching this film a test of patience and strength. This makes it worse than the first film.
Despite many aspects of this film being genuinely awful, The Kissing Booth 2 is not without its heartwarming moments that make it watchable, much like the prequel. Elle and Lee’s chemistry is fantastic, as it was in the first film, and Marco’s charming powers can be felt through the screen as he joins them in their DDR sessions or strums his guitar for Elle on the beach – they’re just good teens looking for a good time. A third love story – about an introverted teen boy finding the courage to come out to his school and confess his love for a super-nerd – also brings sweet respite from Elle and her many troubles. The ending of the film, even though rushed, feels almost acceptable just for the sake of these two. With its bubblegum filters, school kids in convertibles, and mediocre essays being deemed worthy for Ivy League applications, there is much that separates The Kissing Booth 2 from reality. While it is a bad film due to its confused and rushed storytelling, the message of trusting yourself and doing what you love is still a valuable one for teens to watch. Perhaps I treated this series too harshly, and hopefully the third film builds upon the good aspects of this one.
1/5 STARS