The Kissing Booth 2!

So at the beginning of lockdown I read all the books in The Kissing Booth series, wrote by Beth Reekles. I absolutely loved them and it made me even more excited for the second film. You can read my review of all the books in the series here: https://lauramerritt96.com/the-kissing-booth-book-series-review-2/

This review is going to focus on the second film and The Kissing Booth Fan Fest which has took place all last week to celebrate the films release! I’m not going to write specifics that give away the plot but there will be references so just a warning in case you want to avoid all spoilers!

Let’s start with #TKBFanFest – this was a schedule released to show a list of events happening everyday of release week since due to the global pandemic a premiere wasn’t possible at this time. (Still hoping we might get to see all the cast of the film get together to celebrate at some point when it is physically possible and safe to do so!) The idea was a really great unique way to celebrate the release and including the cast being interactive with fans. I even ended up on the Virtual Premiere via Zoom with Joey King, Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Taylor Zakhar Perez!

I’m going to try and just some up key points as I could right an essay (my media studies brain coming back again) on how great I thought the movie was and all the reasons for that! Plus like I said I don’t want to give away any outright spoilers!

Side note: while The Kissing Booth is aimed at a younger audience it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. Let’s face it rom-coms are everyone’s guilty pleasure! Also as I’ll hopefully point out there’s more to the movie than what it seems on the surface of teen high school love story. Standing out for itself within Hollywood movies over time. Critics should probably just chill out because if a film is feel good and you can enjoy watching it then I’m pretty sure it’s served it’s purpose! I think we can all agree we could all do with that right now!

My hope for the film after reading the books was that the second film would have the same ending as the book! All the details transferred from the book into the film adaptation honestly made it the perfect watch!

One thing I really appreciated from the first film and my inner media geek self was all the cinematic references to classic rom-com throughout the years! Hinting at Mean Girls, The Sound of Music and Pretty in Pink to name a few, with Rom-com legend Molly Ringwald returning as well I mean come on! This was something in particular that sets The Kissing Booth apart from other films like this as on the face it could just be another high school rom com but it actually pays homage to the genre and brings it firmly back into today’s society. Also I can’t not mention the epic soundtracks to both films which include so many classics giving a really nostalgic feel!

I feel like there was a definite shift from the first to the sequel as well, again making it more than just a cliche sequel. The move making sure again it wasn’t a stereotypical high school love story and gave the characters more depth and let the story develop.

The symmetry of this film from the first film will also be greatly appreciated by fans as it links everything together so well and gives you the nostalgia feeling towards the character and story! It followed all the important aspects of the book as well making it true to the story even while being an adaptation. Really appreciated the incorporation if The Beach House short story at the beginning of the film in montage style too!

The actors were honestly amazing. Joey King, Jacob Elordi and Joel Courtney brought the trio we loved from the first movie back better than ever. It was also great to see so many of the characters making up the group back and again adding to the story. It was great to see more of Meganne Young and Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Taylor Zakhar Perez were great additions!

An amazing aspect to the second film is also that Joey King not only starred in the film but was an executive producer. It’s great to see how much the characters, story and films are loved by the cast making it more enjoyable to watch as a fan!

It’s fair to say The Kissing Booth has become one of my favourite ever movie/book series for so many reasons! #TKB2 was so amazing! I loved the first one but somehow this topped it! I sometimes worry especially when a first film is so good whether the sequel can match up but it definitely did! I think I prefer it to the first! (I still love the first though lol) This also made me more excited/hopeful for the return of the characters and story in the future.

On the last day of the FanFest was a YouTube Live Stream with the cast that promised big surprises. The huge surprises answered my earlier question/hope with them announcing The Kissing Booth 3 is happening! Even more surprising is that the film was filmed back to back with the sequel last year so it’s all done and is to be released next year on Netflix! This is so exciting to know with all the cast returning we get to see more from their characters and get a final instalment in their story!

Also I was surprised when watching the LiveStream to see a little clip from the Zoom chat I was in for the virtual premiere which was cool haha!

I’m so excited for this and after all the hype/fun of The Kissing Booth 2 and #TKBFanFest that there’s more to look forward to and not too far away! I really hope this also means we might get a third book from Beth Reekles which would be amazing! Who knows what to expect after all the surprises, for now I’m just so glad to have the next instalment and something so feel good to watch. Definitely what this year needed more than ever!