Good Burger 2, sequel to the great Good Burger, has managed to “fail successfully” at reaching the standards set by the first film. Most of the film is disappointing, with only a few successful moments across the entire film. 

Taking place “five years, eight months, and 32 days” after the events of the first movie, Ed, played by Kel Mitchel, and Dexter, played by Kenan Thompson, reunite after Dexter burns his house down and needs a place to stay. Similar to the first movie, Dexter tries to take advantage of Ed to mend his financial problems and instead, creates an absurd amount of misfortune in his wake.

Katt Bozwell, played by Jillian Bell, is the sister of Kurt Bozwell, who was the antagonist of the first movie. In this revival she poses as the MegaCorp villain that swindles the two best friends out of their ownership of Good Burger, launching her evil plan to robotize and globalize Good Burger, which Ed and his team have to stop.

The plot itself stuck to the problem-to-solution format, a blessing and a curse within itself. While it’s very straightforward and was successful in the first movie, it simply gets a bit boring, as it’s easy to tell what’s going to happen at the end of the film.

The director Phil Traill did a satisfactory job at directing the movie. Some shots seemed a bit lazy, but for a kids movie it was alright. 

One continuity from the previous movie was the music. In the original movie, more popular music from its time was used, dating the film and making it more relatable for current audiences. This was done exceptionally well here with modern day popular songs like “Roxanne” by Arizona Zervas and “Gravy’s Delight” by Yung Gravy. These additions added to the movie, substantially, connecting the audience to the sub-par plotline. 

In an attempt to make up for average at best directing and producing, big names in current pop culture made an appearance throughout the film. From Mark Cuban and Pete Davidson to Kai Cenat and Yung Gravy, the cameos were probably the most entertaining part of the entire movie. 

One character that stood out through the whole movie was Ed’s son, Ed 2, played by Alex R. Hibbert. Hibbert’s voice was perfect for the predecessor to the great Ed. His execution of stupid tasks and jokes was one of the best parts of the whole movie.

Mitchell’s performance in Good Burger 2 was substantially worse than his display of talent in Good Burger. While it was fitting for his character that he had a full family of Eds and owned Good Burger, his script and the performance of Mitchell was average at best. This time around, he was written as if he was trying to make jokes more than anything, as opposed to his natural stupidity that created ironic humor, as seen in the first movie.

Somehow, Good Burger 2 managed to minorly address one of the rising problems in western culture: the increased monopoly of big businesses. The whole premise of the movie is that a small, local burger restaurant is being taken over by a mega corporation with the intent to franchise. The nostalgia through Ed’s stance on keeping Good Burger local really makes the movie hit closer to home, adding a more personal sentiment.

The movie truly proved to be not a return of Good Burger, but a revamp of sorts that caters to the younger generation today. While it’s quite disappointing that it fell short of the first movie, it will most likely be just as much of a hit with the kids of today that it was with the kids back then.