Over 25 years after the original film’s release, Nickelodeon reignited the nostalgic cult flame with the Paramount+ release of “Good Burger 2.” Dexter is a failed entrepreneur, and after his latest business venture goes up in flames, he returns to Good Burger hoping for a crutch from Ed, who never left the cherished fast-food joint. As the owner, Ed is subject to hefty offers to buy out Good Burger and franchise it, but the restaurant is his life and all he’s ever known, and his refusals are met with increasingly sinister schemes. 

  Between the pushy incentives from businessman Cecil on behalf of his mystery boss and Dexter’s money-grubbing selfishness as he tries to cash out by any means necessary, Ed trusting of his closest friend and Good Burger, finds himself in a tough place. When Dexter’s bad business practice finds him signing Cecil’s contract without reading and convincing Ed to do the same, they soon realize they’ve sold Good Burger to MegaCorp. Losing their jobs, the original store, and handing the business to Katt Boswell, the sister of the original film’s antagonist, Kurt from Mondo Burger, Dexter and Ed must fight to reclaim Good Burger from the AI and robot-driven capitalist nightmare that MegaCorp promises to transform it into.

 At MegaCrop there are many AI and technological replacements in their service industry and a big machine of capitalism that views human workers as less than because of their need for fair compensation, “bathroom breaks,” and “complaints.” And while all of this is delivered in an on-the-nose rant from Katt, it also gives an absurd delivery through all the ways machinery can be hijacked and malfunctioned.

  “Good Burger 2” is rated PG and is a sentimental sequel of fun, yet it doesn’t divert itself enough from the familiar path. It serves up little more than nostalgia, with some solid laughs but too little that is memorable.