He's All That

He's All That Review

2/5 stars

I began watching this movie with low expectations. I hadn't heard the best about it and this kind of genre isn't my style but I don't need to be an expert to spot the many mishaps of this film.

From Tiktoker to entrepreneur to singer, is there anything Addison Rae can't do? That's what I wondered before watching He's All That. With Addison playing the lead character and an unrealistic story, He’s All That isn’t actually all that good. Baring the target audience’s age, the characters are potential role models and show how to be fake, arrogant teens who change everything about them for a kiss. Compared to its inspiration, every y2k teen movie, it’s shameful and its number 1 spot on Netflix’s most watched is likely due to hate-watchers. However, looking on the bright side, it had some adequate moments that only just took my finger away from pressing the ‘exit’ button.

The story follows Padgett Sawyer (Addison Rae in her first acting role) as a social media influencer whose reaction to her boyfriend (Payton Meyer) gets caught on video and shared online. She then makes a bet with her friend (Maddison Pettis) to make the most unpopular guy in the school, Cameron (Tanner Buchanan) prom king.

The story itself is unrealistic and far-fetched. The students drive to school in fancy convertibles and the most popular student is a famous singer. How many schools have you been to where this is the case? The only character who portrayed an actual teen, Cameron, was converted into a ‘hot’ guy and became popular. It shows teenagers that they need to be popular and change their look, a way you can express yourself. With a wide audience of Addison's fans being young, her character may be mistaken for a role model but I think that Padge is far from one. I personally cannot believe this is where film is heading: social media influencers.

I'm just going to come out and say it: Addison didn't play her role very well. She showed all the correct emotions in scenes but sometimes they were overexaggerated but sometimes they weren't exaggerated enough like she was just reading from a script adding nothing special. I also noticed how she smiled throughout most of her performance like she does in her Tiktoks and she needs to refrain from linking the two because they don't go well together. Her character, Padgett, was horrible, which I guess means Addison could play that personality well. Padgett was fake but could be nice when she wanted to be. 

Cameron began as the relatable character, for me. He was unpopular, wasn't the greatest looking but none of that really matters. He was a nice guy. Although he stays kind throughout, the rest of him is history. (I'm aware I'm criticizing most teen movie characters but it would have been a lot nice for him to stay him. However, since it's the storyline and a similar storyline as most 00's style teen movie, I'll not criticize his makeover anymore). Unlike Addison, Tanner played his role well and his style of character was portrayed decently. 

Also, I noticed there were a few mistakes in the film that (backed up by Tiktok) were white obvious. Firstly, Padge hands out flyers in one scene however she doesn't actually pick any up. She just pretends to do so while the full pile of flyers sits on her hand. Secondly, in a scene showing her connecting with her followers, she 'takes off' her makeup but she doesn't actually take any off. The wipe was clean and her face was till coated in makeup.