Good Burger 2 Go vs Good Burger 2

DISCLAIMER: This post involves sequels to a film written by and featuring Dan Schneider. This ended up going up at basically the worst time. His involvement in these was minimal but he’s still enough of a part to warrant this. I didn’t think it was worth canning or moving with how light this post is. Just had to say that to make sure you know I’m aware of the unfortune timing of this. That is all.

Hello, Spongey here.

Cinema was changed forever in 1997 with the release of Good Burger. Based on the All That sketch and starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, it is known for it’s amazing artistry that made people weep. Well, okay it’s really just a goofy Nickelodeon comedy movie. I didn’t grow up with it despite watching All That, and didn’t get to it until a few years ago.

Critical reception was on the negative side but it was a hit and plenty of people cherish it to this day. I think it’s alright. It has a nostalgic charm and both leads are talented enough to carry it. It can just be a bit much for me given I didn’t see it when I was young enough to find it all funny. As an adult it’s not all great but has its charms.

And when you get a hit, of course you have to milk it. They were happy to do so twice, sort of. I don’t know the full details, but a Good Burger sequel took a while to hit screens. The one we know today finally came out in 2023 was a nostalgia grab for Paramount+. It had enough hype to get an Arby’s meal, they knew that this mattered more than any other movie that year.

But before that, 1998 saw the publication of a book sequel called Good Burger 2 Go. Perfect title, no notes. I hear this was a script for a movie sequel turned into a book but I haven’t seen the concrete evidence. Let me know if that has a source.

It is possible given the cover says it is based on an idea by Dan Schneider. No comment. The actual author is Steve Holland, a writer on Kenan and Kel who also did some books for that series. Not to be confused by Savage Steve Holland.

I bet you never expected expanded universe lore of Good Burger. I am always fascinated by this sort of thing, especially when it’s one off examples. Book sequels to movies don’t happen often but it’s fun when they do.

This case is similar to Hocus Pocus, as that had a book sequel too before the “real” one. I’ve known about this book for some time and thought now was a good time to explore it. The movie had original writers Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert (who have plenty of Kidcom experience including creating Austin & Ally).

Original director Brian Robbins was busy leading Nickelodeon itself so in his place is Phill Traill. He’s mostly done TV with his movies including All About Steve which I hear is bad. I thought it would be fun to look at these and see which is better. The different times they came out and different mediums make them unique in interesting ways. How do they handle the epic legacy of Good Burger?

This is a different type of post for me but I wanted to mix up. This will be a test and we’ll see if I do more things like this going forward, beyond the usual movie/episode battles. This won’t be my deepest post but it should be fun filler.

So which one fares better? Are either any good at all? Let’s dig in and find out.

This, is Good Burger 2 Go vs Good Burger 2

I will talk about each on their own, than compare them. Basic stuff, so let’s do it.

GOOD BURGER 2 GO:

The plot goes thusly: A rich elderly man named Lawrence Hopper visits Good Burger but forgets to collect the change from his order. Ed tries to fix this grave mistake by chasing the man down. The issue is he boards a plan to Paris and that sends him and Dexter on another adventure.

On top of that, it’s been discovered that Good Burger has been using Ed’s special sauce without a license. An inspector is sent to make sure it’s good but they’re out…and Ed is away chasing 18 cents. If they have no sauce to inspect, the place will be shut down. Oh and Hopper’s evil nephew kidnaps him to get his fortune.

The plot works well enough for the goofy nature of it all. You’re not exactly here for the deep plot but I like how something so simple like change gets them into all this. I feel the duo and this world fit a more outlandish plot, with kidnapping, world traveling and all that.

The pacing can feel lopsided at times. For the first half it stays simple and the traveling is mainly to Paris. Then in the 3rd act we get tons more, with a desert scene (complete with halicunation) and all that. It gets a bit dense when it could have cut down on more lax stuff early on to even things out.

Otherwise, the plot structure works okay. The sauce part feels tacked on to have higher stakes for Good Burger but it’s not egregious. Character wise, Dexter takes quite backseat to Ed but they get in some good bits together.

Ed here is on point in the sense that he borders on too much but has his smart moments as well as funny ones. He uses a dumb person’s logic so it’s not all non sequtiers and the like. Scholars such as Siskel and Ebert have debated on if he’s just pretending to be stupid.

This certainly leans to “he might be”, so it adds to the lore. Hopper III is just there for most of it and the evil nephew is fun in how evil he is. They even lampshade it when he first appears, love it. The standout is the mime. Yes. Ed meets a mine in Paris that he basically hooks up with. It’s weirdly wholesome and she basically saves the day.

I did not expect that. The thing that stuck out to me the most was the writing. Steve Holland writing on these kind of things shows, as he does get it. He captures the vibe pretty well, and it’s easy to see Kenan and Kel preforming a lot of these bits. It being a book can work for and against it at times. There are times where a joke or scene will feel flat, as you can imagine it being more fun with the actors chemistry.

At the same time, it does some jokes that land better in written forn, It adds it own commentary, with an oddly snarky third person narrator. It can wear thin at times especially as it goes on but it leads to some legit laugh out loud moments. There’s a part with a little girl’s bike that actually comes back, showing some nice setup and payoff. I also like the joke with Ed’s two brain cells and this dream sequence that feels like its trying to ape the first movie’s opening.

It’s still kinda dumb humor but it got more laughs than I expected. Don’t expect much substance although it has a couple nice moments. The ending feels a bit too hunky dory, with the final line being corny. I feel a gag would fit better.

The book as whole is what you’d expect. It can drag at 145-ish pages but the medium does help it land okay. As a Good Burger sequel, it doesn’t add a lot and I can imagine it not feeling as solid as a movie. But as this weird bit of history, it worked well enough. It can stretch but it’s a harmless and amusing enough read if you’re curious.

But how did they handle this in movie form?

GOOD BURGER 2:

Here the plot naturally has to take the legacy approve. 26 years later, Ed owns Good Burger and has not aged a day while Dexter is striving to be a business man/inventor type. That has fallen through, with his latest attempt putting him out of money and evicted. He’s forced to go back to Good Burger and reunite with Ed.

A guy named Cecil (played by Lil Rel Howrey) wants to make Good Burger into a franchise, with Dexter having to convince Ed to sign on the idea. But Dexter finds out too late that he got hustled and that the place is being taken over by this guy, leading to everyone getting fired.

And then it turns out Cecil teamed up with Katt, the sister of Kurt of Mono Burger (played by Jillian Bell), who wants revenge. She also wants to make an automated version of Good Burger, which gives me flashbacks to that Jimmy Neutron episode. No word on if they have any sodium chloride.

Now they gotta save the day again from all this. As far as the plot goes, it works fine here as well. There’s not much to complain about with the basic ideas at least. There’s some obvious jokes about AI to be made here, and it feels like the “machines can’t replace a human touch” idea will sadly remain relevant for a while.

It does a decent job of catching us up and getting us into the story quickly. The story feels about right for what they’re going for. I won’t compare the two yet but I will say it’s interesting how it’s both crazier and less crazy at certain points. There’s nostalgia bait of course, with returning cameos from Carmen Electra to Lori Beth Denberg but it’s done tastefully enough. The Member Berries moments work well enough and aren’t as distracting as they could have been.

I like certain add ons, like the reveal that Ed fucks. It had to be said. His kids are mostly the same as he is and the main one does feel underused despite having some moments. That extends to other elements, like Dexter’s nice. He almost has an arc with her but it feels a bit slapped on to add a bit of substance. It’s still not deep but you get your rooftop scene again at least.

The big problem I have is how it doesn’t feel that eventful for most of it. It takes too long for the plot to really form, with it mostly being them just hanging out. It’s nice to have some hang out bits but it just gets to be too much. It does coast on the nostalgia of it all. The first relied on the talents of the actors to keep it afloat and this has that as more of a problem.

They’re still game and the best laughs do come from Kel Mitchell just going for it. I didn’t laugh that much here but it had a few moments. The biggest was in the credits, oddly enough. Oh and there’s a part with Orange Soda, haw haw. This burger doesn’t quite have as much meat on it as it could, honestly.

In the world of legacy sequels, it feels a bit more in the middle. To put in Paramount terms, it’s better than Zoolander 2 but it’s no Top Gun Maverick. Anyway, I didn’t take as many notes during the movie as there just wasn’t a lot to analyze. I was hoping this section would be equal to the book portion but I guess not.

You get the idea. We’ve some fun and decent bits, in a plot that takes too long to get there. I enjoy the ideas and the villain and all that, but it’s just missing a little something. That Ed Sauce, if you will. That’s how these fare on their own.

Now for the fun part.

COMPARASION:

It’s interesting to compare these, given the different approaches. The book is a direct follow up while the movie had to go the legacy route. The movie spends more time catching us up as a result, while the book gets into. It actually spreads out recap bits nicely. The movie goes more all in with tying it into the first while the book is more of a stand alone.

In that area, the book does get points for doing its own things while the movie had to get into some repeating. I like how Mono Burger ties into it, as it takes a while for it to take hold anyway. However, the evil nephew is a more fun villain. Jillan Bell works but doesn’t make a big impact. Evil Nephew who has a name I swear, just gets more to do.

Both can start slow, with the book getting too madcap as it goes. The movie feels more evenly spread out but doesn’t go as far. This can work against it, as nothing in the movie gets to the silliness of say, the weird German dance festival in the book. The book starting as a script sounds plausible, with how some bits just fit so well in this world.

You can tell it had to be tweaked to fit the medium and that made it stand out. Character wise, the movie does feel more equal in the attention everyone gets and does add more new people. But Ed felt a bit stronger in the book, with his comedy bits and smart moments landing more. Dexter is better in the movie, getting a bit of an arc and leading to everything.

The mine is better than anything in the movie though. That’s his true love, the movie is non canon in my eyes. The pacing can be wonky in both, with the movie getting less tiring yet less exciting at the same time. You get more bang for your buck in the novel oddly enough, as we get various locations eventually.

It’s weird, the book feels more like it’s from the writers of the first than the movie, which literally was. The both can recapture that magic well enough but the book goes further with it. The movie does have the actors to sell some parts better than a book could, and certain additions are appreciated. It expands the world a bit more, since it kind of had to after all this time.

The book is funny, certainly. It made me laugh out loud a few times, while the movie didn’t get there. They’re both for kids but given the movie knew nostalgia adults were watching, it is odd. While there are aspects that fare better in the movie, I think they got it right the first time. The movie has a more involved climax among other things, I can give it that.

The book just does more with it, throwing a lot at the mall. It can struggle at times but lands some jokes and has the greatest romance of our time. I enjoyed my time with the book despite the nature of it all. It makes this work decently in book form. The movie tries its best and it almost works.

But it feels like they coasted a bit, leading to a more middle of the road one. I’m not the biggest Good Burger fan and it’s not like the book is anything above just Decent. However, the book does the better job at being a Good Burger sequels. It feels more stand alone but had more fun to it

So if you want more Good Burger, the book is your better pick. Funny how that shook out.

WINNER: Good Burger 2 Go

There ya go, two epic sequels to the best movie ever made. Overall, this was fun to do. Neither was anything that great but I do like things like this. The movie is a typical legacy sequel but it is interesting to look at those. This in the basic tier but not too bad. The book showed someone trying to make an actor driven thing work in written form and honestly pulled it off okay.

It’s hardly the grandest example of expanded universe/sequel stuff but it is an interesting example of it. I find the book to be more interesting as the movie is just another legacy sequel.

Still, fun to compare these two. Not the most detailed post but ah well. I hope to do more things like this in the future, or just find new odd things to do beyond what I usually do. This is a filler post but hopefully it starts getting me to do some neat things. …And yeah that’s all I got on this one. Sound off if you’re seen or read either and what you thought of them.

See ya.