Zoey 102

Fifteen years after the ending of Zoey 101, Zoey Brooks (Jamie Lynn-Spears) and Chase Matthews (Sean Flynn) are back for one last time. High school couple Logan Reese (Matthew Underwood) and Quinn Pensky (Erin Sanders), are finally getting married, bringing the clique back together for a final reunion. While everyone else seems to be leading successful and happy lives, Zoey's life is a mess. She is stuck in an undervalued job as a TV producer, experiencing one bad date after another. After Zoey misses a major promotion, Quinn invites her to be the maid of honor at her wedding. Though she is initially elated, Zoey soon realizes that this wedding also means reuniting with Chase, whom she had a difficult parting with.

The main issue with Zoey 102 is the lack of the Zoey 101 feeling. Zoey's side story about her job takes up too much time, leaving the other main cast members of Zoey 101 with insufficient screen-time. Additionally, new characters get excessive screen-time, like Jordan, a sweet but somewhat clueless young man from the TV show Zoey works on, "LOVE: Fully Charged". His storyline is poorly executed and includes a terribly written sexist producer. Unfortunately, this side-story becomes the main focus for about 30 minutes in the movie.

Once Zoey is joined by fellow Zoey 101 characters Quinn, Logan, Michael (Christopher Massey), Stacy (Abby Wilde), and Mark (Jack Salvatore Jr.), the film finally starts to recapture the energy of the classic show. The group is also joined by Zoey's fake boyfriend, Hugo Hemsworth (Dean Geyer), who helps Zoey make Chase jealous. Chase in turn shows up with his girlfriend, Camille (Katelynn Bennett) before the wedding. The most enjoyable part of the movie is at a karaoke bar, where Chase confronts Hugo, leading to a semi-broken nose and Michael's fantastic rendition of "Keep Rolling."

As the movie approaches the actual wedding, it once again turns in the wrong direction and focuses too little on Chase and Zoey's relationship. Zoey's work conflicts interfere, taking away from the fun and engaging romantic story that fans have been waiting for 15 years. However, the final few scenes manage to redeem some aspects of the movie by delivering an emotional ending to Zoey and Chase's story and a solid conclusion to Zoey’s work narrative. 

Technically, the movie is just another TV movie. The visuals are bland, while the sets are passable but uninteresting. The humor is fairly hit-and-miss, with some genuinely funny moments but also some truly cringy ones, largely courtesy of Jordan and Logan's sister, Lyric (Audrey Whitby). However, there are also moments of pure gold, like the well-executed "Is this a cake" sequence. The acting is okay, with standout performances from Erin Sanders as Quinn and Dean Geyer as Todd/Hugo and some occasionally grating ones from Abby Wilde and Audrey Whitby.

In conclusion, Zoey 102 is not a good movie because it focuses on the wrong parts of the story. Nevertheless, it feels good to see parts of the cast reprising their characters and bringing a definitive ending to Zoey and Chase's story. As a fan of the show, I would have preferred more callbacks and surprises. If Paramount were to make another movie that focuses more on the original PCA characters, I would still watch it. However, this movie is only okay for people who are familiar with the characters, loved the original show, and want to see Zoey, Chase, and co. for one final time.

4/10