‘Good Burger 2’ Will Disappoint Even Nickelodeon Fans
Though the current iteration of Saturday Night Live is not the sketch-to-movie factory it once threatened to become, it’s still remarkable that Kenan Thompson could spend two full decades as a cast member—easily a show record—and not ever have one of his characters adapted for a feature film à la MacGruber, Wayne’s World, or The Blues Brothers.
Then again, Thompson might consider that box checked off, having achieved something rarer and stranger: He’s one of two guys who has ever toplined a movie based on an All That sketch. Only he and partner in shenanigans Kel Mitchell can truly understand the trajectory of appearing on Nickelodeon’s intended JV-level SNL that was really more of middle-school Carol Burnett Show, then jumping (however briefly) to the big screen for 1997’s Good Burger.
Perhaps the ultra-rarity of the Good Burger experience engendered deep loyalty in its star. Maybe Thompson appreciates the movie’s nostalgic appeal in retrospect. Or maybe he well and truly enjoyed himself making a deeply silly, not especially funny, but largely harmless movie in the era where Nickelodeon’s cinematic house style could be described as “goony nonsense where adults fall down,” marketed with the restraint and tastefulness of Gak. Whatever the reasons, a fully adult Kenan and Kel are back in Good Burger 2 (albeit not on movie screens; this is a Paramount+ streaming exclusive).