The Kissing Booth 2 (2020)

This was more annoying than enjoyable. I don’t understand how these kids are being accepted into the top schools in America. They don’t appear to take school seriously whatsoever. Maybe they all pay someone to take the SAT? That’s the only thing that makes sense. Everything is about partying, lifting weights, playing video games and having sex. Meanwhile, they all live in gigantic mansions. I want a Kissing Booth 3 where everybody is sheltering in place, wearing masks, social distancing and becoming suicidal. I want every other scene taking place in a cemetery. Then if there is a Kissing Booth 4, it can be in post-Trump America, where anybody who survives the pandemic stops being a narcissistic sociopath.

Decent watch, probably won't watch again, and can't recommend unless you're just a big Joey King fan. Maybe I'm biased, but Joey King is way above doing this high school drama stuff unless its on "Riverdale", see "The Act". This movie looks so small and petty and just lacks the fun and charm of most coming of age stories. It builds off the original movie (and uses some of the same charms effectively) and a few standard teen tropes that all boil down to "have better communication". They feel like adult relationships, but this is still set in a high school with high schooler motivations. A lot of this is just either cheap or empty and is supported by columns of necessary goodness, mostly carried by Joey King, and the only other actor that seems capable of elevating the scenes is Maisie Richardson-Sellers ("Legends of Tomorrow"), but she has a role that is rather pigeon-holed. There are cute parts, but I can't say I'm heavily invested in the main romance, and I actively felt bad for the best friend's girlfriend because she really acted the jerk, treating him like a non-romantic boyfriend. I don't think it will be what you got out of the first movie and there are much better rom-coms out there, but you won't be wasting your time on this either.