by Jacob Kinman, Contributing Writer
Nostalgia is a very powerful force. It can take you to places you never thought you’d go back to again and make you feel the same feelings you once had in a simpler time. No better medium brings an audience to this place than film, especially in this time of reboots and sequels in which the world of cinema finds itself. Personally, ‘90s era Nickelodeon is a major part of my nostalgia; Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell were by far my two favorite people on the network.
From their introduction on the Nickelodeon sketch show, All That, to their spinoff sitcom, Kenan and Kel, the comedic duo soared to epic heights with their classic straight-man and foil routine, their chemistry making their pairing even more rich. But their most impressive feat would come in their theatrical debut: Good Burger, a feature-length film based on a series of All That sketches starring Thompson and Mitchell.
As time went on, Thompson eventually became the longest-running member of the Saturday Night Live cast, and solidified himself as a sketch comedy legend, while Mitchell continued to act in some television roles, and notably became a youth pastor in 2019. It seemed as if the two may never share the screen again, as they took their separate paths. But, nostalgia is a very powerful force — so powerful, it brought the comedic duo back together for a continuation of the Good Burger story.
Good Burger 2 brings Dexter Reed (Thompson), now an inventor, back onto the Good Burger staff after he goes bankrupt following the launch of a faulty product. Ed (Mitchell) still works at Good Burger and takes Dexter into his home after being rejected by his sister, Charlotte (Leslie Jones), after she lost money investing in one of his products. Like the first film, the Good Burger crew features an eclectic an oddball group of characters, including twins Cindy and Mindy (Emily and Elizabeth Hinkler), Ed’s son, Ed 2 (Alex R. Hibbert), the elderly Ruth (Anabel Graetz), and Dexter’s niece, Mia (Kamaia Fairburn), who shares her mother’s resentment of her uncle. Dexter, now humbled after his failure, tries to repair his relationship with Mia. Meanwhile, Cecil McNevin (Lil Rel Howery), putting in a patented charming yet sly performance as the blood-sucking corporate lawyer representing the fast food congol MegaCorp, is interested in buying Good Burger and turning it into a global franchise, to which Ed is unsure; Dexter intervenes and persuades Ed to sell the business, which only ends in Cecil firing the entire staff of Good Burger, leaving Ed and everyone else to lose their trust in Dexter. MegaCorp, led now by Katt Bozwell (Jillian Bell), the sister of Mondo Burger owner, who puts in a perfectly over-the-top, hilarious performance. Katt introduces the former Good Burger staff to their new location, Mega Good Burger, now staffed with a crew of robotic Ed clones. Dexter, now ashamed for letting Ed and other coworkers down, and seeing an opportunity to make up for what he did to both his niece and sister, devises a plan to sneak into Mega Good Burger and stop the launch.
Good Burger 2 hits a lot of the same beats that the original film does, in a positive way. Obviously, Mitchell and Thompson have amazing chemistry, and it’s amazing how little that’s changed after so many years apart. The tone of the sketches and Good Burger was always meant to be absurd; Good Burger 2 carries that torch with ease, from Ed 2 literally looking and behaving exactly like his father, and, to that end, all of his children doing the same, to some of the incredibly wacky things that Ed himself says, and Mitchell sells it as well as ever. The film’s attempt at emotional moments, anchored chiefly around Dexter and his redemption to everyone in his life, land pretty well, in most part due to Thompsons’s performance as someone with great humility and love for both his biological family and his burger-logical family.
Good Burger 2 doesn’t break the mold in any way, but it is a perfect vehicle to take us all back to the wonderful world of Nickelodeon in the ‘90s. I liked it a lot, but will fully admit it’s not perfect. So maybe I’m a little biased. Like I said, nostalgia is a powerful force.
Rating: High Side of Liked It
Good Burger 2 is currently streaming on Paramount+
You can read more from Jacob Kinman, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd