The Kissing Booth 2 Synopsis: High school senior Elle juggles a long-distance relationship with her dreamy boyfriend Noah, college applications, and a new friendship with a handsome classmate that could change everything.
With Noah at Harvard in Boston, Elle (Joey King) begins her senior year of high school. She and Lee (Joel Courtney) apply to UC Berkeley, as one of their “friendship rules” is to go to school with each other. Noah (Jacob Elordi) suggests Elle apply to other colleges, including colleges in Boston – notably Harvard. Elle agrees but does not mention it to Lee. As Elle dreams up a way to make enough money to attend school without putting a lot of financial pressure on her dad, she’s thrown into a dance competition with the new heartthrob at school, Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez), complicating her relationship with Noah.
After finishing The Kissing Booth 2, I realized something. Well, a couple of things. While The Kissing Booth 2 is over two hours long, it didn’t need to be. A lot of unnecessary filler could have been cut to pare the movie down to a manageable hour and a half, and nothing would have been lost in the plot. I also realized that this movie is essentially the first in terms of structure. Elle meets a boy. Antagonizes boy. She starts to have feelings for the boy. She lies to her best friend and keeps secrets from him. Oh! And another “love montage” that mimics the first film.
And lastly, a large portion of this movie involves high school students listening or watching embarrassing or intimate moments with their mouths gaping open until the triumphant conclusion of a kiss or confession of love. Then they all break into laughter, cheers, or applause. Sometimes all three. Where is this high school?!
So, with all that said, is The Kissing Booth 2 any better than The Kissing Booth? Like the first film, the kissing booth perhaps has a 5% relevance to the story. But I feel like I’m becoming nitpicky there. Let’s get to the actual movie. As with the first movie, I enjoyed Joey King, Joel Courtney, and Jacob Elordi. I think all three are deserving of better material. I suppose there is more going on in this sequel, with Elle trying to decide which colleges to apply to and dealing with her long-distance relationship with Noah while being completely unaware that she’s become the third wheel as she continually joins Lee on his dates with his girlfriend, Rachel.
New student Marco is the hot new replacement for Noah. He’s studly, popular, and a great dancer. Not only that, but he’s a genuinely decent guy. There are no issues with temper and no desire to control or boss Elle around. The Kissing Booth 2 provides a pretty legit threat to Elle and Noah’s relationship. It reminded me of the love triangle in P.S I Still Love You. Separate the primary connection and introduce a third party to keep the audience guessing. But is there any doubt that Lara Jean will end up with Peter?
Despite how perfect Marco is for Elle, will she break Noah’s heart for the new guy? There seems to be some law against such a thing in this genre. Noah was decidedly less problematic here, save for a few immature moments, but that’s probably because we didn’t get to see much of him. The problem is that Marco and Elle didn’t have a lot of chemistry, at least not to me. Watching them was fun, but I didn’t feel a vast spark. Maybe because I knew how the movie would end, I already had to block rooting for the guy I was pretty sure would lose out in the end.
As with the first movie, The Kissing Booth 2 contains a lot of contrived moments that feel incredibly forced and convenient. Does Elle need money to pay for school? There’s a Dance, Dance competition where the winner gets $50,000! Of course, she’s going to enter. Of course, Marco is going to be her partner. I can see where the writer wanted to tie it all together and give Elle and Marco a reason to spend time together, but it honestly felt like something I had seen once on Saved by the Bell or some early 90s show like that.
There is the whole matter of Lee’s girlfriend taking issue with Elle hanging out with them so much and Noah’s sexy new female friend in Boston that triggers Elle’s insecurities. And, for some reason, a brief, sporadic subplot revolving around two gay students in the school crushing on each other. There’s a lot packed into this movie, and it felt very disjointed.
Also, in what universe can a senior in high school suddenly say, “Oh, okay, I’ll apply to Harvard to be with my boyfriend. No big deal.” and get in? Unless you are Elle Woods (Legally Blonde), it feels very, very far-fetched. It cannot be that easy to get into an Ivy League school. Right!?
I will admit, I did enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner scene because I am all about angsty drama, though again, it felt like most of the drama was created by a total lack of communication. But because the characters are teenagers and (most) teenagers are (generally) dumb, they’ll get a pass for that. I will bump up the rating to half a star for that scene alone because I am an angst wh*re.
The Kissing Booth 2 ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and they’ve already greenlit the third movie, so… keep an eye on this space for that review. I guess. 😀
Watched: 08/07/2020
Notable Song: Wonderlust by Will Post
