Tall Girl 2 Review: Ava Michelle's teen drama falls short of being a worthy sequel

Tall Girl

Tall Girl Cast: Ava Michelle, Griffin Gluck, Sabrina Carpenter

Tall Girl Director: Emily Ting

Streaming Platform: Netflix

Tall Girl stars: 2/5

In my observation, most films don't need sequels because they have nothing potent to say that wasn't executed the first time around. This particularly holds truer for teen dramas. With Netflix continuing on with its habit of churning out franchises out of high-school romances what with The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys series, the newest one we get is Tall Girl 2. The first time around, it was a romantic drama that revolved around Jodi (Ava Michelle) trying to stand up to the bullying she faces on account of her tall frame, with the second film, we get to see what happens after her grand Homecoming speech where she proudly stands up for herself and accepts herself the way she is. 

The Tall Girl sequel feels inessential from the beginning itself. The film kicks off with Jodi (Michelle) and Dunkleman (Griffin Gluck) giving us a revision of all that happened in the first film and honestly, after that, it seems even more strange as to why we are getting a sequel. The new film then takes us through Jodi and Dunklemna's relationship which starts off on a sweet note as the duo share romantic moments together. Following her speech at the Homecoming dance, Jodi now finds herself among the school's popular kids and hence she no longer walks the hallways staring down but in fact, we see her giving high-fives to other kids. Although Jodi's newfound popularity and her new dream of starring in the Spring musical soon become major hurdles in her otherwise smooth relationship with Dunkleman. As the 'Tall girl' bags her first role as a lead in her school's Bye Bye Birdie musical, Jodie soon finds herself fighting her own insecurities and dealing with anxiety attacks. 

The sequel also sheds more light on the supporting characters among whom, Luke Eisner returns as Stig Mohlin but this time he's not hurting Jodi but cheering for her instead. Also, Anjelika Washington reprises her role as Jodi's bestie Fareeda and this time gets more screen space with a plotline connected not only to Jodi's life but also has her own arc. Jodi's parents played by Angela Kinsey and Sete Zahn and also Sabrina Carpenter as her sister Harper return for smaller roles. 

For the most part though, my only question while watching Tall Girl 2 remains, why do we need this film? Unlike the first one which had a clear underdog storyline going for it, the sequel falters poorly when it comes to choosing its focus. It moves across genres from being a rom-com to a coming-of-age tale and in parts, we also realise there's an attempt of making it a musical. What the makers wish to shed light on though seems to be how teenagers today deal with low self-esteem and how common anxiety attacks are among them. It also showcases a different side of high school as this time around, Jodi's peers are supportive and the only person sabotaging her life is her own insecurities. 

The problem with Tall Girl 2 is that it doesn't want its viewers to take the film too seriously and hence all the above-mentioned teen issues are touched upon merely on the surface. The way these insecurities and issues amongst teens are discussed in the film seems too amateurish. In the meantime, the focus keeps shifting to Jodie's boyfriend Dunkleman who is heartbroken over their breakup but is trying to put on a show that he's moved on. The two themes don't blend well and hence the genres have a strange hotchpotch. 

For the sequel, director Emily Ting takes over from Nzingha Stewart who directed the 2019 original.  Under Ting's direction, the film tries to bring follow all the necessary high-school drama tropes. What doesn't work though is the way Ting captures Jodi dealing with negative thoughts. The use of a mean voiceover clubbed with out of focus takes to portray Jodi's zoning out seem a tad less impactful. On the upsides, the Spring musical sequence has some great lighting and is easy on the eyes. The same goes for the dance sequence that takes place between Jodi and Jan Luis Castellanos' characters. 

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While the film centres around Ava Michelle's Jodi, the performances that do stand out in this film include those in the supporting cast. Luke Eisner and Anjelika Washington are particularly likable in the film and I would loved it if the sequel was based on their unlikely romance instead of Jodi and Dunkleman's cliche couple problems. While Michelle keeps her act steady, much like the first film, it's definitely Griffin Gluck who steals the show among everyone. 

Tall Girl 2 tries hard to break the mould of regular teenage rom-coms by focussing on a storyline that's about what happens after the underdogs win but doesn't manage to successfully utilise the idea. It seems amateurish to believe how Jodi's homecoming speech in the original film leads to suddenly everyone treating her differently during the sequel, it's a notion far from reality.  Like most sequels, the film doesn't have a definite thing to say and if you thought it could be good for a perfect watch on Valentine's Day, there's not much romance here too. All in all, Tall Girl 2 makes for the watchable film if you're looking for something time-saving to binge on because it wraps up within an hour and forty minutes.