Good Burger 2

Although the original 1997 Good Burger film, itself based on a popular sketch from the Nickelodeon series All That, saw commercial success, it would only receive a sequel in the form of a book, Good Burger 2 Go, the following year. 25 years later, however, this book would become non-canon with the formal announcement of Good Burger 2, set for a direct-to-streaming release on Paramount+. Even though I had never watched All That, nor had I seen the original “Good Burger” sketch until very recently, I was still a fan of the original film, and so was curious to see the sequel after it received a big promotional push at San Diego Comic-Con, including a building wrap-around ad and an interactive Good Burger section of the larger Nickelodeon booth. After managing to watch the sequel through Paramount+ on its release day, in the midst of preparing for a Thanksgiving trip the next day, while it did induce a few laughs from me, it wasn’t quite as good or funny as the original.

Now an adult, Dexter Reed (Kenan Thompson) has grown up to be an unsuccessful business entrepreneur, with his latest scheme causing his life to literally go up in flames. With nowhere else to turn due to his antics having driven his family away and cost him his job, Dexter seeks help from his old friend Ed (Kel Mitchell) for a place to stay and gets his old job back at Good Burger, which Ed now owns and where Dexter’s niece Mia (Kamaia Fairburn) happens to work. While on the job, Dexter overhears a business conversation between Ed and a representative of MegaCorp who wants Ed to sell Good Burger to open more locations worldwide. While Ed refuses to sell, MegaCorp is willing to make the deal go through by any means necessary, even if they have to go through Dexter to do so.

Much like the original, this film revels in its own silliness, provided largely by the dynamic between Ed and Dexter, but still follows a more or less straightforward plotline. Similarly, some more serious moments lie within all the comedy, with one such moment being that Dexter is shown that he still kept the yo-yo that Ed gave him in the previous film, adding a nice emotional touch to the scene. The main villain’s motivation, to absorb Good Burger and replace all the workers with robots, also presents an interesting theme of workers becoming replaced by machines, one that is surprisingly relevant with the recent controversies surrounding the rise of AI technology. One such restaurant chain actually exists called CaliBurger, in which a burger-flipping robot named Flippy is a major selling point, so this film’s plot is actually within the realm of possibility, even if exaggerated.

Although the original film wasn’t perfect, the sequel is more noticeably flawed in its own way. For starters, the exact timeline in relation to the first film’s events is a little fuzzy, since the gap of time is given at different points to be 20 or 22 years, one of which was a callback to a character from the original that, while funny, didn’t really add much of anything except filling out the run time. On the subject of characters, Dexter’s character arc here feels more like a retread of the first film and Monique, despite being his love interest in the original, is never really addressed in any capacity (her actress, Shar Jackson, makes a brief cameo in a sequence with various other celebrities, but it’s not the same). While the main villain has an interesting motivation that makes sense for the plot, they are simply not as entertaining or memorable as Kurt was. Not every joke in this movie really lands either, such as an extended fart joke in the third act and the new character Ruth (Anabel Graetz) being a less-funny stand-in for Otis, but for every one of these jokes, there is thankfully one that lands.

 

Ed (Kel Mithcell, left) and Dexter (Kenan Thompson, right) are together again.

In an odd parallel with last year’s Hocus Pocus 2, which also coincidentally received a book sequel before getting a proper one through a streaming platform years later, whereas any product placement in the first film felt more organically placed, the sequel’s product placement is a bit more in-your-face about it, especially with an odd, blatantly obvious plug for Door Dash and various characters eating camera-facing bags of Doritos and PopCorners. Similarly, while the original kept the celebrity cameos to a reasonable minimum, there is a noticeable increase in them here, which comes off more as said celebrities wanting to be part of a trend (much like the later Sharknado films) and the executives not seeming confident that the movie could stand on its own without the added star power. Aside from this, the film has some great production values, with some amazing practical effects interspersed with minimal, yet improved computer effects. Ed’s house has also been redecorated to be more or less completely fast food-themed, with his entire family and even his dog wearing the Good Burger uniform at all times, yet this somehow feels in-character for him, given how his life more or less revolves around the restaurant.

What really carries the movie is the stellar acting on the part of Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, whose chemistry remains intact after all these years and has only been enhanced by their experience. A particular standout among the supporting cast is Alex R. Hibbert, whose performance as Ed’s son Ed 2 is so spot-on with Kel Mitchell that it makes their characters’ relationship highly believable.

Good Burger 2 is not quite as good as the original Good Burger, but it is still entertaining overall, thanks mainly to Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell’s lasting chemistry and comedic timing. If you’re a fan of the original film, you will likely find something to enjoy here regardless of its shortcomings. Now, there’s only one thing left to say:

“Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger. Can I take your order?”