The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) Movie REVIEW: Why Joey King Deserves Better Than This Sequel

Netflix dropped The Kissing Booth 2 in July 2020, reuniting the cast that made the first film a streaming hit. Joey King returns as Elle Evans, Jacob Elordi plays Noah Flynn, and Joel Courtney is back as Lee Flynn. The movie adds Taylor Zakhar Perez as Marco and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Chloe to shake things up.

This follow-up caught fire on Netflix despite critics not loving it. The film runs over two hours, following Elle through her senior year. She deals with Noah being away at Harvard, plans another kissing booth with Lee, and meets a charming new student who complicates everything.

The Story Setup

Elle’s final year of high school starts with relationship worries. Noah’s at Harvard making new friends, including a girl named Chloe who shows up in his Instagram posts. Back home, Elle and Lee want to run the kissing booth again for their school fundraiser.

Money becomes a problem when Elle realizes college costs a fortune. She teams up with Marco, the good-looking transfer student everyone’s talking about, to enter a dance contest with a cash prize. Training together creates sparks that make Noah jealous when he finds out.

Joey King Holds It Together

Joey King puts real effort into making Elle believable. She handles the comedy bits and emotional moments equally well. Even when the writing gets predictable, King keeps you invested in what happens to Elle. Her scenes with the different guys show good chemistry all around.

Jacob Elordi doesn’t get as much to do this time. His Noah spends most of the movie being jealous from a distance. Joel Courtney brings more depth to Lee, especially when he discovers Elle applied to Harvard behind his back. Taylor Zakhar Perez steals scenes as Marco with his confidence and dance moves.

What I Enjoyed

Elle makes her own decisions more in this one. She’s not just reacting to what the guys want anymore. I appreciated seeing her take charge, like when she beats Marco at that dance game to get him to partner with her. That felt like growth from the first movie.

The movie adds Marco as someone who actually treats Elle well. He’s supportive without being controlling. Chloe could’ve been the jealous villain type, but instead she’s just a normal person being friendly. That surprised me in a good way. The dance sequences look great and give the film some energy.

Where It Falls Apart

Two hours and fourteen minutes feels excessive for this kind of story. Scenes that should take five minutes stretch to ten. The montages showing Elle missing Noah or hanging with Lee repeat the same ideas. I caught myself wondering when things would actually move forward.

Everything that happens, you see coming a mile away. Elle and Noah will have a misunderstanding. Marco will almost kiss her. Someone will get mad, then forgive quickly. The whole thing runs on characters refusing to have honest conversations. One text or phone call would solve half these problems instantly.

How Critics and Viewers Reacted

Professional reviewers weren’t kind. Rotten Tomatoes gave it only 27% positive reviews. Metacritic scored it 39 out of 100. Most critics called it predictable and too long. Roger Ebert’s site gave it 2 out of 5, saying it’s empty but harmless if you keep expectations low.

Regular viewers split into camps. Netflix said 66 million homes watched it in the first month, so plenty of people tuned in. IMDB users rate it 5.7 out of 10. Some fans thought it was worse than the original. Others found it cute and enjoyable for what it is—teen romance fluff.

Bottom Line

The Kissing Booth 2 gives fans more of what they liked before, plus some improvements. Elle acts more independent. The new cast members add value. But the movie drags badly and follows the same tired patterns as every other teen romance. I found myself bored during the middle hour.

Joey King deserves credit for working hard with weak material. The dancing looks good. If you’re 15 and love romance stories, you’ll probably have fun. For everyone else, it’s background noise at best. The movie ends with Elle accepted to both schools, setting up another sequel nobody really needed.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5