So it’s been a week since The Kissing Booth 3 was released and I’m still not over it. And yes I’m nearly 25 and not the target audience but sorry not sorry I absolutely loved this whole series, books and films!
I feel my side note from last years post is still applicable so here it is again: 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 a 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!
I was so looking forward to this film coming out since it was announced at the end of The Kissing Booth 2 fan fest last year. I’ve done lots of Kissing Booth related posts last year including, an overview of the fan fest experience, movie review and a summarised look at the books series which you can find on my blog!
When I saw that another fan fest was happening this year I definitely wanted to take part! This year was different to last which again made it a new fun experience. There were different things going on each day and I was lucky enough to be 1 of 5,000 to have an advanced screening of the film late on Tuesday 10th August, a day before it was on Netflix! Even saying that is crazy when you think of how big these films are worldwide that you can get an opportunity like that while just sat in your own home.
Another fun event was similarly to last year a Virtual Fan Premiere Party with some of the cast. It was great as this year it included Joel Courtney and Meganne Young who I didn’t get a chance to see last year as well at Taylor Zakhar Perez again. They were so lovely and gave an insight into their favourite moments from the series and there was a chance to see some previously unseen cast clips.
As well as the official fan fest activities author Beth Reekles was hosting Q&A almost panel like zoom sessions with fans at the weekend. I personally loved the books so much and read them during lockdown 1 (wow that seems like a lifetime ago now haha) and got me more invested in the films,story and characters! Beth was so a lovely and gave a really great insight into her experience the series as a whole and answered so many questions!
Now onto the film…
WARNING NEXT PART CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!
The ending of the film seems to have been the main controversy as it’s not the stereotypical happily ever after rom com ending and honestly I think that’s what makes the whole film!
The fact that these characters have been through so much it would be too cliche for them to just end up together. Personally I feel like people who are critiquing the ending are missing the point, each character did find their own ‘happily ever after’ and what was best for them. I also feel like then ending is hopeful of the whole right person wrong time theme running through the final film in that some people will end up exactly where they left off and some people will also love each other even if they’re not together.
Another thing I loved about these films is that while there are arguably 4 main characters there is also a lot of characters who we actually do know as the ‘main cast’ which I really like and isn’t a common part of most films!
I really feel that this film was the perfect ‘coming full circle’ film for the series! There were perfect hints of symmetry to the first two films. A lot of the story shift scenes at occurred at important places for the characters but this time they were there for a different reason.
All main characters and pieces of the story were wrapped up and I think the 6 year time jump was perfect ending as it gave you a glimpse into where the characters end up but there’s still part of the storyline that is up for interpretation into what happens next.
Overall I think the whole series have been one of the best, mainly because it stands alone in many aspects compared to other films in this genre. For example the classic nostalgic soundtrack that has framed each film and there’s more to it than girl meets boy fall in love end up together. It really focuses on friendship, life and that it’s not also what you expect but that doesn’t mean it’s not great. The cast were so perfect and really made the books come to life.
I feel like I will do a separate review for the final book The Kissing Booth: One Last Time as well as I did review all the other books and I bought the book as soon as it was released but if I’m honest I haven’t read it yet as I’m trying to hold onto the series a little longer lol but it will be coming soon as I am desperate to read it!
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