‘Good Burger’ Tried to Warn Us. Maybe We’ll Listen to ‘Good Burger 2.’ | Eater

"Portrayed as a small, working-class burger joint from a 1997 kids’ film, this restaurant is framed as a mom-and-pop operation threatened by a predatory chain that uses an addictive chemical to outsell rivals. The sunshiny 16-year-old cook Ed invents a wildly popular special sauce but is exploited by his friend Dexter, who bottles the sauce and pockets most of the profits while paying Ed only a paltry bonus, underscoring how frontline workers are underpaid and undervalued. The original story functions as an anti-corporate cautionary tale that celebrates worker ingenuity, loyalty, and calling out bad actors rather than simple commercial success. The new sequel revisits those themes as new corporate owners pursue global franchising and deploy artificial intelligence to replace staff, suggesting the film’s concerns about corporate overreach, harmful ingredients, and automation remain resonant decades later." - Amy McCarthy