'The Kissing Booth 2' sucks, just not as much as the first one

The Kissing Booth 2 is better than its predecessor. Not much better, but improved just enough to make me separate "in" from "sufferable" and resist the temptation to once again compare this franchise to a hazardous heap of incinerated refuse. It's a step up from last time.

Streaming today, the sequel to Netflix's inexplicable 2018 hit clocks in at two hours and 12 minutes. That's a nearly half-hour increase from the original teen romcom, one I was certain would make visiting Elle Evans (Joey King) and her gaggle of noxious SoCal nimrods even more excruciating this go-round.

And while, yes, this string of montages Netflix is calling a movie is far too long — truly, this may be the only project in history to use “Build Me Up Buttercup” as a method of prolonging torture — it’s not nearly as exhausting or toxic as its predecessor. It's not great. Hell, it's not even good. But it's not actively harmful, misogynistic, or problematic, and at Los Angeles Country Day, that's what we like to call progress. Read more...

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