Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Good Burger Blu-ray Movie Review

Nothing Burger.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 25, 2021

Quick: name the best "fast food hamburger" scene in movie history. It would make sense that such a scene would come from a movie that makes fast food burgers its bread-and-butter but, alas, such a scene does not appear within Good Burger, Director Brian Robbins's (Vasristy Blues, Norbit) dimwitted film about a brainless fast food employee who saves the company with a secret sauce of his own formulation. Hey, everyone's got to be good at something (much like Samuel L. Jackson is good at eating fast food hamburgers). Sadly, Good Burger isn't good at much of anything. The story is slim, the characters are one-trick ponies, and whatever passes as "art" in the movie was done with crayons as if by a toddler. It's a movie of empty calories and characterless taste, sure to make any film connoisseur shiver at the mere thought but, hey, sometimes a bit of junk is just what the doctor ordered (so long as said doctor isn't a cardiologist).

Good Burger is the best burger joint in town and maybe the only burger joint in town. It’s an establishment in the community. It’s been there for four decades, serving plenty of happy customers over the years (and not so happy ones in recent times), but its future is in question. Mondo Burger – with a big building, bigger promises, and smaller prices – is set to open across the street. It’s going to be a major hurdle for Good Burger to overcome. It’ll take blood, sweat, and tears to win back a customer base hungry for a better burger. Unfortunately, the store’s employees are not really up to the challenge of building back up the brand and staving off the inevitable closure in the shadow of the competition. When one employee is fired for arriving to work without any pants, the manager (Dan Schneider) tasks one of the store’s least competent employees, Ed (Kel Mitchell), with making a delivery run. Ed’s not a delivery man, but he’s a go-getter and agrees to make the run.

Meanwhile, it’s the last day of school and Dexter Reed (Kenan Thompson) has big plans for the summer: he’ll sleep till noon, lounge by the pool, and repeat. But when he crashes his teacher’s (Sinbad) car, swerving to avoid hitting Ed who is out making the delivery, he’s handed a $1900 repair bill he cannot afford to pay unless he gets a summer job. Dexter reluctantly takes a position at Mondo Burger but has the ignominious distinction of being the first person fired; he’s incompetent on the hamburger assembly line and mouths off to his boss. He drowns his sorrows in milkshakes at Good Burger where Ed gets him hired on to help around the restaurant. Dexter doesn’t immediately recognize Ed as the man who messed up his summer, but he does recognize that a sauce of Ed’s own making is too tasty not to market. Soon, customers are pouring in. They cant get enough of the secret sauce. Dexter seizes the opportunity to capitalize on the craze by taking financial advantage of Ed in hopes of paying off his debt sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Mondo Burger’s manager (Jan Schweiterman) schemes a way to shut down his suddenly thriving rival once and for all.

That's a rather lengthy plot synopsis for a movie that pieces together a story from scattered scraps and leftover loser ideas. It's not really funny, it's not at all serious, and "sophomoric" is probably too kind and sophisticated a word to describe it. Maybe there are a few laughs to be had at Ed's expense. The dimwitted cashier at Good Burger lands in trouble by taking customers literally -- giving one man a burger with "nothing on it" which to his brain means a completely empty bun -- or failing to take their order at all. He tries to fix the shake machine from the inside and winds up covered in strawberry goop. It's mildly amusing the first time, maybe, but the truth is that Good Burger was not made for the highbrow film-as-art crowd. It's still a lousy picture in any light but credit the movie for sticking to its guns and building a film that simply challenges its audience to chuckle here and there, to escape the heavy drama of art and life and find comfort in mindless shenanigans. Kel Mitchell all but sacrifices his pride for the audience's enjoyment, reducing himself to the lowest common denominator but, to his and his character's credit, offsetting the vapidity between his ears with an extra-large heart beating in his chest. He's surrounded by a generally likeable cast of characters who are also under employ of the title company. They put in an honest enough effort for a movie that demands far less.

Good Burger Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Good Burger does, at the very least, serve up a rather tasty 1080p transfer for its Blu-ray debut. While the picture does not reach peak perfection as have some other recent Paramount releases (think, maybe, Mouse Hunt or The Haunting), it certainly achieves a level of baseline excellence that does the movie very proud. The picture is more than adequately sharp and colorful (though one or two shots do go curiously dim and extra grainy), revealing a pleasing film-like look where fine grain and rich textures abound. Close-ups showcase rather good skin details, fine textures around the kitchen and cashier areas inside the Good Burger restaurant, and the sharper and cleaner and more space-age Mondo Burger interiors. Fine point details, like the Good Burger employee nametags, are further proof of the image's naturally sharp state. Colors are not so perfect and vibrant as to push a display to its limits, but the inherently colorful material puts out a good level of essential color brightness and vitality within a neutral contrast that allows the content to demonstrate the core vibrancy well enough. Skin tones and black levels are fine. The picture does show the odd stray pop or speckle but these are negligible at best and barely a bother at worst. There are no serious encode issues of note, either. Good Burger fares well here.

Good Burger Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless presentation is excellent. Music is full and detailed, well-spaced along the front and featuring plenty of surround wrap and subwoofer engagement. Atmosphere is very well defined. Ringing bells and chatty students at school around the seven-minute mark open up the location and effortlessly pull the listener into the scene. Heavy din inside the thriving Mondo Burger and later at Good Burger when Ed's sauce becomes all the rage effortlessly pull the listener into the establishments with nicely immersive spacing and detail. Zany, zigging, and zagging sound effects are perfectly capable for clarity and stage traversal. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and remains in the front-center speaker for the duration.

Good Burger Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Good Burger includes one supplement. Original "Good Burger" Sketch from All That (1994) (480i, 4x3, 4:00) is the original TV sketch that inspired the motion picture. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Good Burger Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans have been clamoring for Good Burger to make its way to Blu-ray for a long time now. Criterion seemed like the logical landing point – the Internet certainly thought so with all the fan made cover art floating around out there – but Paramount has picked up the mantle and delivered a solid Blu-ray, one that might not include the in-depth documentaries and heart-and-soul commentary tracks a film of this stature, prestige, and historical significance demands, but the studio has at least put together a perfectly good technical presentation that sees the film looking and sounding very good indeed. Recommended; no Blu-ray library is complete without it. Buy a second copy to keep shrink wrapped for posterity's sake.