“Good Burger” is a 1997 classic that gained popularity among fans of “All That” and other Nickelodeon shows that aired during the late 90s and early 2000s.
The movie is cheesy, but there’s no denying that the dynamic between Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell is hilarious. The iconic line “Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, may I take your order?” is one that will never leave your head.
Now, 26 years later, Thompson and Mitchell return as Dexter and Ed in the Paramount+ original movie, “Good Burger 2.”
Although the comedy remains the same, some things have changed since the original movie. Ed now owns Good Burger, and there’s no competition… for now.
Dex is also an entrepreneur now — well, was an entrepreneur. His business ended up going under after an invention went wrong in front of several investors, and he ended up burning down his house.
When I rewatched the original “Good Burger,” there wasn’t much hinted at Dex becoming an entrepreneur in the future other than the scene where he made Ed sign a contract for his sauce where Dex got 80% of the share and Ed, the creator of “Ed’s Sauce,” only got 20%.
As for content not shown in the movie, we find out that Dex has an older sister named Charlotte, who happens to be mad at him, but we never find out why until later on; all we know is that he calls her when looking for a place to stay, and she hangs up almost immediately after laughing at him.
With nowhere to go and no family to call, Dex goes back to Good Burger, where he is rehired to work alongside Ed. When Ed introduces Dex to the new employees of Good Burger, we find out that Ed’s oldest son, Ed2, works at the restaurant alongside Dex’s niece, Mia.
Mia also happens to be mad at Dex, but again we aren’t sure why until Dex sits with her and tries to create an uncle-niece bond with her, which is something she clearly doesn’t want.
It’s later revealed during the scene that Dex scammed Charlotte out of thousands of dollars from his business ventures that he still owes, and Mia is working at Good Burger to help her mom out with money.
Throughout the movie, Ed is persuaded by a businessman who works for a company called MegaCorp to sell the Good Burger restaurant, which makes Ed uneasy and uncertain about the future of Good Burger. After asking Dex for advice, Dex encourages Ed to sell the restaurant as he thinks it would be a good business venture.
This decision results in all the workers being fired and Ed losing the restaurant, and everyone, understandably, pins the blame on Dex because it was Dex’s idea to have Ed sell the restaurant. But at the same time, Ed and Dex were both tricked into thinking that Ed would get a partial share of the money from selling the restaurant.
In hopes of getting the restaurant back, Dex and Ed visit the owner of MegaCorp, who we find out is Katt Bozwell, the younger sister of Kurt Bozwell. Kurt is the villain in the first “Good Burger” who opened Mondo Burger and was arrested after he poisoned the Good Burger sauce. Katt wanted revenge on the duo and planned to open what she called “Mega Good Burger” across the globe.
I never liked Kurt in the first movie because he was goofy and tried too hard to be cool. I understand he was the villain, and you’re not supposed to like him, but to me, he came off as a try-hard with his flashy silver jumpsuit and spiky hair. He looked like he was a member of Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. (No offense to NSYNC fans, I love NSYNC.)
Kurt’s sister is, unfortunately, the same way. She tries to be cool by introducing all new technology that she plans to incorporate in her restaurant. Katt comes off as a knock-off of Shego from “Kim Possible,” only instead of a jumpsuit, she’s wearing a business suit.
Ed and Dex eventually get revenge on Katt and the rest of the MegaCorp company by ruining the grand opening of the chain restaurant by messing with the restaurant’s technology.
Ed and Dex own the Good Burger restaurant together. Dex makes amends with his family, and all turns out well in the end.
Something I really liked about the movie is the celebrity cameos, including many Saturday Night Live cast members like Ego Nwodim, Leslie Jones, Andy Samberg and Pete Davidson.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed “Good Burger 2.” It was funny, heartwarming and (still) cheesy. The cheesiness is what made the original movie so hilarious, so I am glad they kept the charm of the original movie for this one.
