He’s All That – Film Review

Teen social media influencer Padgett Sawyer’s (Addison Rae) humiliating on-camera breakup goes viral, leading her to make a risky bet to save her reputation: she swears she can turn scruffy antisocial Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan) into prom king material. But things get complicated when she finds herself falling for him in real life.

The idea of doing a gender-swapped remake of a film is actually something that I think is a good idea. Of course, not every film warrants a gender-swapped remake but in the case of the 90s comedy, She’s All That, why not do it from a woman’s point of view? Is it absolutely necessary? Probably not, but what’s the harm in trying? (Minus 2016’s Ghostbusters).

To be completely honest though, I don’t think the original film is all that good to begin with. It has some fun, nostalgic 90s qualities in it to be sure, but the laughably predictable story, humor, and annoying teenage romance beats make it extremely forgettable, which makes me wonder why in the world it was so popular to begin with.

But of course, we all know how Hollywood works in most instances – if a film manages to make a lot of money and has a lot of people talking, there’s almost inevitably going to be a sequel down the road. Or, if enough time passes, a remake or a reboot, which is exactly what He’s All That is. It doesn’t continue the story of She’s All That (which is fine by me), but instead focuses on brand new characters in the modern age of TikTok.

And, as you can probably tell, I did not like this movie one bit. It feels like one of those strange Nickelodeon movies you would watch on TV late at night as a kid and perhaps enjoy it at a young age but when you grow up and give it a rewatch, you wonder “How in the world did I ever like this?”.

Almost half of the plot of He’s All That revolves around TikTok, and more precisely, our lead characters’ obsession with getting famous and becoming the next big TikTok sensation. We constantly see her attempting to film videos for the platform, buying designer clothing, and posing in front of various places, all for social media.

In today’s day and age, it seems like everybody wants to be a viral sensation online and while there’s nothing wrong with that on a surface level when it becomes an obsession, it can get unhealthy. Always attempting to one-up yourself and never thinking about anything else besides your followers and how hungry you are for fame can be a bad thing, and sadly, He’s All That never once attempts to talk about the dangers of this.

It actually sort of makes it look acceptable which is not a good message to be giving out to its target audience which is teenagers. Sure, some younger children and adults may end up watching this movie, but it was made to appeal to teens and giving out the message that it’s okay to be constantly craving internet attention and nothing else isn’t really the best thing to include in your film.

And aside from all that TikTok nonsense, the film also focuses on the relationship between Addison Rae’s Padgett and Tanner Buchanan’s Cameron – AKA one of the worst teenage romances I’ve seen in a film in years. I’m not sure which I dislike more, Padgett and Cameron or Elle and Noah from The Kissing Booth film series.

Rae and Buchanan have almost no chemistry together, so whenever they are trying to act romantic with one another in the film, it comes across as flat and forced. In order to have a believable couple in a film, you have to first hire two actors who have genuinely good on-screen chemistry and Rae and Buchanan simply don’t. In all honesty, every time they’re on-screen together, it felt incredibly awkward.

And plus, the whole reason why she starts talking to him in the first place is quite sad and cruel as well. Early on in the movie, it’s directly told to us that Padgett only started talking to Cameron because she wanted to turn the school’s biggest loser into a hot guy with a makeover. It’s honestly so strange and made me feel a little uncomfortable to watch if I’m honest. And, after the cringe-worthy makeover scene, why in the world does Cameron’s younger sister call him hot directly to his face? It’s so weird.

Interestingly enough, this movie actually has some good actors in it and yet, they find absolutely nothing fun for them to do. Madison Pettis (no relation) is one of the most popular actresses from the early Disney Television era thanks to her role as Sophie Martinez on the comedy series Cory in the House. You’d think that this film would have her in it a fair bit and give her a fun and entertaining role, but sadly, they don’t.

In this film, she essentially plays the typical bully character that has absolutely no depth whatsoever and exists in this story for the sole purpose of making our protagonists’ life a living hell. But this movie doesn’t contain just one stereotypical movie bully, but rather, two. Peyton Meyer – who I thoroughly enjoyed in Girl Meets World – plays the exact same character here but he’s somehow more annoying than Pettis’ character.

He drives fast cars, always has his shirt off, and wears gold necklaces, and every time he walks into the room, he has his arms around two girls because, well, he’s the dumb jock character. This movie is just a disaster on all fronts. It’s not only a gigantic waste of ninety-one minutes but it is easily one of the worst movies of the year.

Overall Grade: F

MPAA Rating: TV-MA

Cast: Addison Rae, Tanner Buchanan, Madison Pettis, Rachel Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Peyton Meyer, Isabella Crovetti, Myra Molloy, Annie Jacob, Kourtney Kardashian, Vanessa Dubasso, Romel De Silva

Directed by: Mark Waters

Written by: R. Lee Fleming Jr.

Distributed by: Netflix

Release Date: August 27, 2021

Running Time: 91 minutes