'The Kissing Booth 2' is better than bad but here's why the Joey King, Jacob Elordi movie disappoints us

So moving past all of this, the film touched on different thoughts that were important to explore but left us hanging. Like will Elle be able to make choices without being pressurized by people around her -- be it her boyfriend or best friend? Does she want to go to Berkeley because she feels that it is the best college for her life or does she want to go there to make Lee happy after coming up with all those rules when they were all of six years old? Her attempt at wanting to get into Harvard is definitely not what she wanted either. In fact, it is ironic that the only thing that the first part got right -- addressing what Elle wanted -- was the one thing that was completely missing in 'The Kissing Booth 2'.

So, when things got too difficult after Noah left for Boston to Harvard, she decided to think about maybe tailoring her life around this boy in her life that she feels deeply about because it is so difficult to stay apart. However, this didn't go with the promise that she made her best friend. The conflict ends up stressing Elle about what choice to make but not once in the film do we see Elle wonder what she really wants. She thinks about what the universities would want to see in her statement, she thinks about what her boyfriend wants, and she even thinks about what her best friend wants but never about what she wants or which college she wants to go to.

Then she meets this new kid in school, who she is able to talk to and he teaches her a way of life that is new to her. She learns how to let go of everything that has been weighing on her in his company. For one moment, she wavers and at this moment she feels for Marco (Taylor Perez), the new student, and even ends up kissing him. Sure, this was momentary and it was a great thing to address in a film about long-distance relationships. But then, when it came to the moment that mattered, which was the confrontation between Marco and Elle after she kissed him and ran out, she told him he is not the one. There was no understanding of why that moment would have mattered more to Marco than to Elle or bringing that to the fore. In fact, after ghosting him for days, all that Elle had to tell him was this and even her apology was so rushed. It made Marco a plot device for Elle and Noah's relationship to be tested.

Then we have Elle feeling insecure about Noah after she learns about his new friend Chloe. She looks great, is smart, and is with Noah when Elle cannot be and this insecurity burns down to a niggling doubt in the back of Elle's head about how Noah used to be a player. All of this leads to Elle not noticing any of the red flags around Rachel, like how her spending too much time around Lee was leading to "cock blocking" Rachel. The fact is that the film could have addressed how young people have to be fluid when it comes to introducing new dynamics in relationships that have been set in their ways with Rachel and Chloe but it didn't.

So that's how 'The Kissing Booth 2' ended up being better than bad, but disappointed us with every opportunity that it missed becoming more than another high school rom-com.

'The Kissing Booth 2' released on July 24 and can be streamed on Netflix.

PS: If Netflix is going to release official images of happy graduation pictures of Elle with Lee and Noah, where is the drama that you are trying to peddle in the first place?