He's All That

He's All That (2021)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Mark Waters

Starring: Addison Rae, Tanner Buchanan, Madison Pettis, some people I haven't heard of before, and my bae Rachael Leigh Cook

From: Netflix

I didn't think this movie was THAT bad... it would have been better if M. Night Shyamalan also did uncredited work on this script.

Yeah, the main reason why I subscribed again to Netflix was to see this as a Rachael Leigh Cook stan; both she and Matthew Lillard are in this although they don't play their She's All that characters. I didn't see this for Addison Rae... I've never watched any of her videos and I don't know why so many hate her aside from in general not liking the whole “influencer” thing-which is not something I'm a fan of either. Heck, I don't know why she became so popular-aside from what I presume is due in part because of her physical appearance.

She's All That is a very silly film yet at least it had heart, decent characters, a fair share of charm and felt more relatable than this remake. This is inferior in every way; Rae is not a good actress by any means, but her friend Kourtney Kardashian—she literally phoned in her small role and was absolutely terrible! Actually, there is something to condemn Ms. Rae for... her friendship w/ Kourtney Kardashian. Anyhow, the “loser” she has to make over is Robby from Cobra Kai, so he's an outcast because he's anti-social, wears punk T-shirts and is a fan of Jimmy Wang Yu movies... but he also works at a horse farm, knows the lyrics to a bad Katy Perry song-not that there's a GOOD Katy Perry song-and is ripped as hell; that's even more preposterous than teenaged Rachael somehow not being hot just because she wears glasses and doesn't do her hair.

I did cringe while watching this yet after hearing and seeing all the talk of this being an utter disaster... it wasn't that offensive to me. Of course, I am not a fan of the various things it celebrates, such as the influencer culture that it has mixed messages about. Or, the rampant product placement that was almost as blatant as in Rachael's Josie and the Pussycats, where it was done as satire. Or, me having to see a Kardashian attempt to “act”. Yet, while I more laughed at the movie than with it, I was able to guffaw at the questionable dramatic moments, the bad modern music, or how the original was able to do it better, or how this was from the guy that directed Mean Girls.

Yet it wasn't all bad; at least Ms. Cook was fine (not that I am the most impartial judge... * I am referring to her performance) and Lillard-is he still a meme like he was earlier in the year?-was the highlight-no spoilers as to why. Plus, this has two supporting characters that are Asian ladies who take each other to the prom, so for you wanting more LGBTQ+ representation... point is, I've seen worse Rachael movie and while I've never had the “pleasure” of experiencing those Kissing Booth movies, what I know of them those WOULD be ones I think were offensively bad. For all of He's All That's faults, at least I could howl with laughter that there was a random dance scene which was even more pointless than the one in She's All That, or a crummy dance version of Sixpence None the Richer's Kiss Me. Will this be a time capsule of 2021 like the original was of the late 90's? Not that I'll look upon 2021 as favorably as I do the late 90's.