REVIEW: He’s All That Isn’t All That
She’s All That was a must-watch for many millennials growing up in the late 90s, they remember watching the iconic scene of Rachael Leigh Cook’s Laney making her way down the stairs to tune of Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me” as Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Zach watches in awe. Netflix is hoping to recapture that feeling with their gender reversed revival, He’s All That. In this version, social media influencer, Padgett (Addison Rae) is trying to regain her millions of followers after her breakup goes viral. Padgett believes that if she can turn a mediocre looking guy at her school into the next “hottie”, she’ll be back in the game. What she doesn’t expect is to fall for the young man, Cameron (Tanner Buchanan) and realizing that maybe there is more to life than followers and likes.
As a big fan of the original and still a comfort watch to this day, He’s All That comes nowhere close to its predecessor. The premise is essentially the same but other than that overall plot, the similarities stop. The original film certainly had it’s strange and outlandish moments, but at least viewers found something relatable to their own high school experience whilst watching the flick. This new revival creates a fairly skewed version of teenagers and high school, and slaps on a VSCO filter. Are viewers supposed to believe that teens today are either completely obsessed with the social media narrative or completely against the entire idea and instead spend their days educating others on its shortcomings? While it may be a true narrative for some, it doesn’t feel like an organic narrative for all of Generation Z. He’s All That makes this their reality which takes away everything that should have been charming and quirky about the film.
Tanner Buchanan and TikTok star Addison Rae, who makes her acting debut in the film, take on the lead roles of Padgett and Cameron. Buchanan makes the best of what he is given to work with and can be quite charming when given the opportunity. Rae, on the other hand, isn’t asked to do much, but be herself in this film. Her character is a social media influencer, Rae is a social media influence turned actor, who is most natural when her character posts, performs TikTok dances, or does other social media related things.
Rachel Leigh Cook returns for this revival as Padgett’s mom and she is a breath of fresh air. Like Alicia Silverstone in the revival of The Baby-Sitters Club, this former teen rom-com leading lady fits perfectly in this role. Annie Jacob plays Cameron’s best friend Nisha and the chemistry between these two is absolutely perfect. The two fell into the role of best friends seamlessly and their banter with one another felt extremely natural.
Maybe as a millennial myself, I don’t understand Generation Z and He’s All That will manage to connect with them in some way shape or form. But I ask myself, will Gen Zer’s be sitting in their living rooms twenty years from now watching this rendition when the original is just a click away? Most likely not.
Grade: D+