Movie: The Kissing Booth 2
Cast: Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Meganne Young, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers
Director: Vince Marcello
OTT: Netflix
Rating: 3 Moons
While the other streaming giants have been doling out crime thrillers and gory suspense thrillers, Netflix has managed to keep a nice hold on romcoms as well besides the usual bloodbath. The streaming giant won acclaim with To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and one-offs like Set It Up, but the others have fallen flat on their faces. While Vince Marcello’s 2018 adaptation of Beth Reekles’ YA novel The Kissing Booth scored big on viewership it did not garner much critical acclaim. Now the digital platform has dropped its sequel The Kissing Booth 2 taking off from where the first one ended.
The film’s story starts 27 days later from where the first one ended with Elle (Joey King) and Noah (Jacob Elordi) confessing their love for each other and having a fun time together during the summer holidays. However, the summer holidays have an expiry date and Noah has to go back to Harvard while Lee (Joel Courtney) and Elle have to return to their high school to enter their senior year. Noah’s and Elle’s long distance relationship takes a toll on them as there are days of jealousy, missed calls and really sad longing on their part. The widening gulf between Elle and Noah could be quite a bummer but thankfully Elle’s classmates Lee and Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and Noah’s classmate Chloe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) light up the scene.
The Kissing Booth 2 follows a vapid narrative as the first part was pretty clichéd. There are several subplots that do not make a lot of tonal sense and the literal ‘Kissing Booth’, a school fundraiser organised by Elle and Lee makes an appearance, because if it didn’t then what will we have? While there are lengthy college essays drafted by Elle that will sap your energy still there are typical rom-com moments that will bring a smile on your face. The film is pretty engaging in the first half with a sunny setting, fun soundtrack, and good looking star cast, but the film gets predictable post that.
However, similar to the first film, the sequel also struggles to find what it wants to say as it tries to be too many things all at once and doesn’t succeed in any of them. Instead of building one climax it tries to juggle three and is unable to give proper focus to any. Writer-director Vince Marcello and co-writer Jay S. Arnold should have tried to make the sequel crisper and shorter and more lucid. They are unable to solve any of the plotlines in a conclusive fashion.
However, this instalment has more redeeming value than its predecessor as it has less sexist jokes, is less creepy, less toxic and a little more enjoyable. It has also tried to give a character arc to Elle and admirably avoids pitting its female characters against each other which is the general stereotype of a high school film. An LGBT storyline has been handled with sensitivity and sweetness.
Joey as the leading lady is bubbly, effervescent and lovable. We get to see her funny side in the film as well and she gives a mature performance. Joel Courtney’s Lee also shows growth and isn’t too harsh as compared the prequel. Jacob Elordi’s Noah is not the aggressive bad guy or playboy we saw in the first film. Taylor Zakhar Perez as Marco is a scene stealer and should have been given more screen time.
The music of The Kissing Booth 2 is what makes the film watchable. Composer Patrick Kirst has broadened a few of his original themes and induces a saccharine charm to the romcom. Editor Paul Millspaugh has also done a good job with the editing and beautifully shows the protagonist’s frenzied mindset. All in all, the film will give you a reason to smile during this horrid reality of 2020. So for some dose of mush catch The Kissing Booth 2 on Netflix.
PeepingMoon.com gives The Kissing Booth 2 3 Moons
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