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Team Noah Or Team Marco? We Recap The Kissing Booth 2

Jul 30 2020 by Romance.com.au writer

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Team Noah Or Team Marco? We Recap The Kissing Booth 2

After our recent and most helpful recap of The Kissing Booth, we’re back with our take on The Kissing Booth 2, which has just landed on Netflix! Most especially, which of the guys we think Elle should end up with.

In the first movie it was all about her crush on big bad Noah, hot-stuff brother of her forever best friend, Lee. Now, in The Kissing Booth 2, with Noah off at college, there’s a third guy in the mix: a gorgeous transfer named Marco.

(Mega spoilers ensue, so if you haven’t seen it yet, go now, watch it, and come back and let us know which team you’re joining: #TeamMarco or #TeamNoah.)

via GIPHY

 

Ally Blake

Hey gang! Ally here. Anyone who joined Sarana and me for our The Kissing Booth recap will know that at the end when Noah left to go to college, I considered that a happy ending 😉. So, when the delightful Marco turned up in The Kissing Booth 2, I was beyond delirious! And here’s why…

PRO MARCO

Marco is GORGEOUS

Legit gorgeous. Tall, dark, handsome Mediterranean-level gorgeous. Deep voice, hooded dark eyes, a thick head of hair that will last his whole life. (Though I was always going to marry an Italian, ever since I saw The Godfather, so maybe that’s just me. No? You too? Smart choice!)

The moment Elle first sees a video of Marco – working out shirtless, no less – she gushes. Ballistically. Claiming ‘his sweat produces its own glitter’ among other glorifications of his gorgeousness. All while the announcement mic is turned on so the whole school hears her every word, because teen romcom. (Point being, these are not the words of a girl in luuuurve with someone else, am I right?)

That instant spark

The spark between Elle and Marco is fantabulous. When Marco introduces himself after the aforesaid announcement, their first meet is snarky, confident and unapologetic. On both sides. The spark continues on through the first half of the flick, with a boatload of playful, competitive, flirty fun.

And there’s romantic tension galore. The kind that gives you goosebumps and achey cheeks from smiling so much. And unlike Elle’s crush on Noah in the first movie, it’s equal. On both sides. We see their feelings evolve, together. That’s the real ticket for me; there’s balance.

The guy can SING!

And dance! And play guitar! And is bilingual! Who doesn’t love a lead singer? Le sigh…

He’s the complete package

Marco is hot, yes. And buff, sure. He’s got ’tude, but he’s no bad boy. He’s kind, and compassionate, and strong, and open, and thoughtful. He gets on great with Elle’s BFF, Lee. He’s lovely and real and warm, and mature. He listens. He cares. Watching him fall for Elle is all the tingly, tummy-fluttery stuff these kinds of movies promise. #TeamMarco all the way!

As for Noah, the ‘hero’ of the movies. Has he evolved from the first film? Now he’s a mature college boy, far away from home? Let’s see…

CON NOAH

Noah is suuuper needy

Like sookie la la level needy. If the guy pouted one more time after Elle didn’t message him back instantly, my stomach might have turned and never turned back. Elle, quite smartly, spends much of the movie actively avoiding talking to him as he’s so much hard work. And she seems soooo much happier and better-adjusted without him!
Still, Noah, using some champion pouting by this point, asks her to apply to Harvard, where he goes to school, rather than UC Berkeley where she’s wanted to go her entire life. (Though how he got into Harvard I still have no clue.) Her dad makes a reeeeeally good point here: ‘Is it worth changing all your plans for him?’ (Go, Elle’s dad!)

He’s needy…until he’s not

The very moment any Harvard types show up, Noah dumps Elle’s conversation like a hot potato. Or might that be a cold potato, for the chemistry between them is non-existent. Hot, cold, hot, cold. It’s exhausting, Elle! Pay attention, sweetheart; deep down Noah only cares about Noah.

He’s totally into another girl!

Yep, in this flick we have the ‘other woman’. Chloe – sophisticated, clever, British, beautiful and available. She and Noah get on really well. Dare I say he glows when they are together? While he seems to disappear when up against bright, bumptious, goofy Elle? Yes, I dare!

Now, Chloe claims to be the only woman on the planet not to have fallen for the Noah Flynn charm while sexily thrashing him at pool (um, me, I’m another woman who just must have missed said charms), or covering him in a blanket, or brushing his hair from his cheek as he sleeps. And yet she flirts with him constantly, giving him sideways glances, all gooey and mushy-like, with definite intent.

This would be forgivable, as every time Elle confronts Noah about his relationship with the lovely Chloe, he convinces her they are just good friends – one time cleeeeverly pointing out the fact Elle had a male best friend since birth. Oh, snap! But then he INSTANTLY sees Chloe again, and goes back to LYING ABOUT IT! Every. Single. Time.

Why, Noah, why? Do you have rejection issues we’ve yet to learn about? A goldfish complex? Will it be Kissing Booth 3: The Revenge before we find out you are actually a sociopath?

The dude has anger issues

While they mightily softened said rage tendencies for movie #2, after no doubt receiving much backlash from movie #1, they still rear their ugly head. Only to be negated when Chloe – yes, Chloe, not Elle – puts a hand on him and eases the beast.

Noah is simply too tall for Elle

The height difference is insurmountable. Seriously. Elle is a smidge over five foot and Noah is six foot four. Any time they kiss I worry she’s going to get a neck spasm while he’ll end up with spinal problems. For that reason alone, it’s best they part ways.

RELATED: The Kissing Booth | Everything To Remember Before The Sequel Drops Onto Netflix

Sarana

Now, it was only a week or so ago that I watched The Kissing Booth and now I am probably going to upset everyone by advocating for #TeamNoah. But here we go…

PRO NOAH

• I will admit Noah is a bit needy but he is definitely no Stage 5 Clinger!! I don’t think he would’ve got himself into such a mess if he had just admitted at the start that he was homesick and out of his depth, but at least he told Elle in the end why he had stuffed things up so badly.

• I think Noah’s character has come quite a long way from when we met him in the first movie. There are moments throughout where I felt quite sorry for him because I could see that he was actually trying to do the right thing but just kept making it worse. I mean we must remember he is a teenage boy, and from memory they are terrible!!

• Preppy Noah is really cute. The end.

• Let’s not forget how hard it is to get into Harvard so Noah is no dummy. He is incredibly smart and he knows what he wants in life. He has drive and ambition and that goes a long way for me. We see a lot of vulnerability in him when he realises things are not what he thought they would be at university.

• I wouldn’t usually say that being rich is a pro – but for this recap I’m putting it in. Noah comes from a very wealthy family and that of course has nice benefits, and I’m just speculating but Marco will probs travel around in a Kombi earning a living as a busker after school finishes, while Noah has gone straight to Harvard, no gap year…

• Noah is corny and a Stage 5 Clinger, oops, lol, I mean…a bit needy, but he is also a bit of bad boy (in the good way). He has a motorbike, he gets into fights every now and then, and he is probably terrible at Dance Nation because he is so tall and gangly, but he is good at pretty much everything else.

CONS MARCO

• Marco’s dress sense reminds me of an old man in Cuba!! It does kind of suit him, but I just think jeans and a more modern t-shirt would have been better.
• Marco’s eyebrows were all I could concentrate on in some scenes. They were channelling Bert from the Muppets at one point!!
• I’m not complaining that he took his shirt off – but taking it off to pull a rope and win tug of war was a bit much.
• Also when he looked down on Elle as she was struggling up a wooden high wall and jokingly offering to help. He could have easily given her a hand and still won.
• As mentioned before, Marco has no direction. He can sing and he can dance – but where is that really going to get you? Busking on a street corner in your thirties!!
• I also did not feel he had the same chemistry with Elle as she has with Noah – he has that moment where he kissed her in front of everyone and Elle regretted it instantly and ran out!

Ally: Or have we both missed the point and its #TeamLee!?!? Lee’s adorable, they’ve been best friends since birth, and he’d do anything for her. And every time Elle and Lee are on screen together it’s an absolute joy!

So how about you guys? #TeamNoah? #TeamMarco? #TeamLee? Will we find out in The Kissing Booth 3 (already announced for 2021 release!)

 

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Ally Blake

Ally is a hopeless romantic. She was born into a family of romance reading women and remembers bag loads of books being passed on at family gatherings from her mother, her cousins, her aunt and even her grandmother. Now as a grown up she gets to sit at the laptop, with a title, a couple of beautiful characters in mind and wait for the fairies to take flight. Constant coffee and bowls full of M&Ms make her job that much more pleasurable! Come visit her at www.allyblake.com


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Featured image credit: Netflix
Written by Sarana Behan & Ally Blake

 

Featured image credit: Netflix

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