I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again; I hate when entertainment companies remake a movie or give it a thousand sequels. Some movies need sequels in order to wrap out character or plot arcs, however I’ve noticed that sometimes movies are given countless sequels in order to milk the cash cow for every last drop.
Personally, it seems lazy. These companies rely too heavily on established, successful franchises and don’t take creative risks to tell innovative stories. They use what they know has worked and rehash new storylines for already resolved character arcs.
Tall Girl 2 feels like one of those unnecessary sequels. Directed by Emily Ting, the movie follows Ava Michelle, starring as Jodi Kreeyman, who is tackling her insecurities.
The movie adds more development to Jodi’s character besides the fact that she is tall this time around. She also struggles with anxiety after she lands the lead in the school musical.
The discussion surrounding mental health and anxiety in the movie was realistic. It was not handled as deftly as possible. However, the conversations Jodi has with her mother and sister are meaningful, and as a teenager, the overwhelming negative thoughts are all too familiar.
Tall Girl 2 still falls into the same trap as the first movie. Despite trying to spread a message of self-acceptance, Jodi spends much of her time focusing on relationship drama from the guys in her life and their opinions of her. Unfortunately now many of the male leads vying for her affections are disguising their possessiveness as romance.
As a whole, Tall Girl 2 is an improvement from the first movie. However, it still doesn’t introduce any new ideas or revolutionize the teen movie genre. The sequel could have never existed and no one would have felt that Jodi’s character arc was unresolved from the first movie.
For mindless watching, I would give Tall Girl 2 a chance. If you want something with substance, I would look somewhere else.