‘Zoey 102’ Review: Grown Up, Washed Up

When the Nickelodeon present “Zoey 101” ended its four-season run, in 2008, Zoey (Jamie Lynn Spears) lastly obtained along with Chase (Sean Flynn), placing a fairy story ending on a will-they-or-won’t-they relationship that fascinated a big slice of early-2000s tweens. A decade and a half later, in “Zoey 102,” a movie-length sequel to (and replace of) the present, the 2 have change into estranged. Years earlier than, Zoey ghosted Chase throughout a visit to Hawaii.

Yet the most important shock of this serviceable revival, directed by Nancy Hower (the present was created by Dan Schneider), is that Zoey has change into a little bit of a washed-up has-been. She was once the gorgeous, in style focus at Pacific Coast Academy, the place the unique present was set; now, she’s an overworked tv producer flailing in her love life. Zoey is compelled to see lots of her previous pals once more on the marriage ceremony of Quinn (Erin Sanders) and Logan (Matthew Underwood), the topics of a B-plot romance within the unique present. To impress Chase, Zoey hires a person (Dean Geyer) to pose as her boyfriend.

It’s not a simple job to make a film out of a youngsters’ present from a bygone period, however the movie does a comparatively clean job of dipping into — however not overdoing — the nostalgia and retaining the lighthearted, wacky tone that was the present’s signature. It helps that the solid members, now older, are higher performers. Even if there’s a ceiling to how a lot could be achieved right here, returning followers wanting a reminder of their youths will get simply sufficient of what they got here for.

Zoey 102
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. Watch on Paramount+.