Two of the most popular teen romance movies on Netflix that were highly admired, finally had their sequels released just this year. One of which was deemed, “Netflix’s most re-watched original films” year 2018 and the other which was nominated on the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. And I’m talking about, “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “The Kissing Booth”. Betcha didn’t see that coming. Yet, despite being movies that are watched at almost every teenage girls’ slumber party, the sequels didn’t seem to meet the same expectations like that of the first one.
Spoilers Ahead
5. Portrayed the ultimate toxic relationship.
Remember when the world was head over heels upon the release of TABILB and TKB? Everyone was definitely in Lara Jean’s and Elle’s shoes in every situation they got tangled up on. And wouldn’t ya know they ended up with their dream guys after a rollercoaster of a journey. But, in the sequels of each movie – the “I will do anything to be with you” and the “I will never hurt you” is all just lost. I mean, sure, it is expected that in every relationship there will be problems that will come and go and if he or she is really the “fated or destined” one, both should be mature and logical enough to fix current problems before things get worse.
Well, in these films, not only do they become immature enough to talk things out (yet they can clearly narrate all the red flags sought over the course of the entire film), it was just disaster after disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s a film and all, but only if I could have a chance to straighten things up between the two couples, this everything would’ve been resolved within a matter of minutes.
Intuition and suspicion is all what Lara Jean and Elle had over Peter and Noah. Their relationships went to the point “What if he doesn’t love me anymore” or “Maybe he’ll cheat on me with another woman”. Like Peter and Noah didn’t really have any problems with their girlfriends it was just like one day they just woke up suddenly having doubts about their significant other.
You know what they say, trust is the basic foundation of a relationship.
4. It makes you despise Lara Jean and Elle.
Actually, since Peter and Noah never really had any problem with their girlfriends, it turned out they were the problems within their girlfriend’s perspectives. Like, come on, you can go all and on with these lovey-dovey dates through these moments and montages together and yet can’t set the record straight for just a moment on what each of you truly feel?
Later on the film comes in two of the new boy characters – John Ambrose and Marco Valentin. One being Lara Jean’s childhood crush, and the other being referred to as a “snack” by Elle.
But for the record, the fact that Lara Jean got a reply letter from John Ambrose and that it gave her butterflies in her stomach is kind of a big no-no ‘cause if you really love someone, then them alone is just enough and you don’t have to look sideways or I don’t know. Lara Jean didn’t even have the guts to be proud and tell John Ambrose she was dating Peter. I bet you Lara Jean was like “I’m gonna flirt with you and not tell that I’m in a relationship! Tee-hee!”.
It’s quite ironic that Lara Jean and Elle who had immense doubts over their boyfriends cheating on them even were the ones themselves who kissed John Ambrose and Marco. And don’t forget when Lara Jean and Elle were practically emotionally cheating yet then the second Peter talked to his ex and Noah was watching Elle’s DDR tournament, they just ditched John Ambrose and Marco.
3. It didn’t give justice to the new and “rejected” characters.
So, alright, I know I said that they should’ve been loyal and all to their boyfriends but the way John Ambrose’s and Marco’s characters were portrayed in the latter part of the film just makes me want to protest and start a petition.
There was a bit in the film John Ambrose said, “I feel like I read it all wrong” and Lara Jean was the one leading him on and he also respected that she was in a relationship.. Don’t get me wrong, it was clear that he was smart, kind, not clingy, and not complicated like Peter. He even had the same interests and priorities as Lara Jean. He also played the piano like, how can you turn that down after being single? Yet after he kissed Lara Jean and she just came running back to Peter, John Ambrose was just literally gone in like the rest of the film.
On the flip side, we didn’t actually get to know any solid information about Marco. It was like: Elle just basically used Marco the entire time. She persuaded and insisted him kiss in the booth, win the tournament for her own “college” money, and even used him to settle her problems with Noah. They really just put him in that movie to “spice things up” with zero background to his story.
In both cases, if it were up to me, I’d choose John Ambrose and Marco just because they weren’t irresponsible and insensitive boyfriends. Or if I were Peter or Noah, I’d just leave these two narcissistic women.
2. Had an even more predictable ending.
For the record, we all knew they were going to end up with their dream boys in the first movies and it were just interesting in the way they all ended up together but in the sequels, not only did we know that they’re going to end up together again, but the hardships they went through to mend their messed up relationships is just excruciating to endure.
There’s a reason it’s titled, “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before: P.S. I Still Love You”, like, don’t go watching an hour long film knowing the ending is already in the title. To put it straightforward and blatant, it was literally Peter being unreliable and John being perfect with Lara Jean playing both of them. It all comes to rest when Peter says one nice thing and Lara Jean comes running back to Peter. In any sense, it must’ve been because part two was done by a different director or I don’t know.
In the Kissing Booth, they reused the same concept of putting another Kissing Booth but instead of Noah they used, you guessed it, Marco. Marco wasn’t even in the movie poster for the second film so it didn’t seem like his character mattered in the course of the entire film.
And when they announced there will be a part three for both films, I just hope there will be any sort of unique twist or actual story to redeem the downfall of these sequels.
1. It was all just generally poorly pieced together.
The fact that both movies were based on their books is pretty okay, but am I the only one who thought that both the sequels’ storylines were quite the same? I’m not accusing them of copying each other’s works or anything but let’s see the checklist, alright? New “hot” boys? Check. Crazy and dysfunctional relationships? Check. An ending that is just transparent and quite questionable? Check.
I was actually shocked myself that there will be sequels to both films (despite having more volumes to the books it was based on) because the first one themselves were already enough to fill me up and get the storyline. An extender is what I’d say the sequels were just to give in more because of its wide popularity on Netflix. And I didn’t read the books at all but I’ve heard that John Ambrose was badly depicted in the film as if they just “skimmed” the book and missed out on a lot of key facts.
To sum it all up and a little piece of advice, it’s ok to break up because the situation is bad for your emotional health. Although Lara Jean and Peter broke up for like a couple of minutes in the film and come back with zero change and improvement in their relationship.
Did we forget anything? Do you think the sequels could’ve been much more of an appeal if a couple of changes would’ve been made? Do you blame any of the characters for ruining the entire plot? Comment down below.