An Pointless and Unfunny Comedy Sequel

Arriving a whopping 26 years after 1997’s cult-favorite Nickelodeon comedy, “Good Burger 2” matches the streaming-era development wherein audiences search a nostalgia bump reconnecting with previous favorites, like “Coming to America” or “Hocus Pocus” — not precisely classics a lot as modest pleasures from extra harmless occasions. On this obnoxiously unfunny followup from Paramount+, stars Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson return as hapless quick meals workers. To replace the story to 2023, director Phil Traill and screenwriters Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert add just a few new characters and a tiresome AI plot, winding up with a Thanksgiving diversion that features simply advantageous taking part in within the background as households collect for his or her vacation meals.

The hook right here is presumably a Kenan and Kel reunion, which the film serves up immediately: Ed (Mitchell) now owns the Good Burger restaurant, the place he serves as a benevolent boss, treating his workers with empathy whereas by no means shedding his enthusiasm or humorousness. Dexter (Thompson) is an inventor making an attempt to make ends meet. After the disastrous unveiling of his newest failed gadget, he’s obliged to return to his teenage job, working alongside Ed. Even by sequel logic, that setup doesn’t make a lick of sense, however no less than it’s swift.

Though Mitchell and Thompson are sharing the display very quickly, the viewers hardly will get an opportunity to understand their chemistry earlier than tedious new characters are launched and the movie nosedives right into a convoluted and humorless plot. A nefarious businessperson (Jillian Bell) tangentially associated to a personality from the primary film needs to franchise Good Burger and steal it from Ed. Aided by a shadowy lawyer (Lil Rel Howery), they handle to dupe Dexter into betraying his greatest buddy.

That’s the place AI is available in: The baddies plan to open franchises all around the world and to exchange the workforce with robots that look and act like Ed. As within the first film, our heroes be part of forces with the opposite workers to thwart the plan. Imagine it or not, this simplistic plot just isn’t the movie’s drawback; moderately, it’s the lame jokes and repetitive dialogue that hold it from touchdown any laughs. The forged is basically left stranded, mugging for the cameras as they desperately attempt to compensate for the undercooked script.

Nobody is extra wasted than Thompson, who graduated from the unique “Good Burger” to turn into a stalwart a part of the “Saturday Night time Reside” ensemble. The sequel denies him a showcase for his apparent comedic expertise. Compelled into taking part in the straight man to Mitchell’s extra flashy character, Thompson finally ends up explaining the wacky shenanigans taking place as an alternative of truly doing something comedic. Virtually each nonsensical line Mitchell utters is adopted by a sober rationalization from Thompson, suggesting the writers don’t belief the viewers to get the apparent jokes. What a waste of somebody who demonstrates practically each week how uproariously humorous he might be on TV.

In the meantime, missing something fascinating to do, Mitchell resorts to an disagreeable high-pitched voice and “aw shucks” perspective. The actor squanders the chance to supply one thing totally different when taking part in the robotic model of his character, resorting to a lame fart joke and making foolish expressions.

Thompson enlists a handful of his “SNL” colleagues for cameos, however the screenplay doesn’t provide them a lot to do. Because of this, Leslie Jones, Maya Rudolph and Pete Davidson find yourself as wasted one-scene characters. Relatively than writing one thing witty for them to play, the filmmakers appear to assume that recognizing a well-known face is humorous in and of itself. A parody of the a lot lampooned Gal Gadot-led “Think about” video from the early days of the pandemic gives just a few extra cameos, culminating with a sly punchline that may be this movie’s solely actual chuckle.

Elsewhere, hysterics abound as Traill and editor Christian Hoffman wrestle to discover a hilarious take. Rushing up the actors’ supply doesn’t work, nor do the shoddy particular results and apparent physique doubles featured in a few of the sequences. The screenplay quantities to a collection of irritating misunderstandings, adopted by much more irritating explanations, because the characters yell above each other to no avail. When a quick meals sequel takes this lengthy to make, it ought to return out tasting so much higher than “Good Burger 2.”

“Good Burger 2” is now streaming on Paramount+.