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There's a reason why they cut all the songs from the trailer and just tried to sell it as a Gen Z remake rather than an adaptation of the stage musicals based on the original film. The songs are generic and forgettable; the film basically epitomises the reason why most musical adaptations of films (particularly iconic ones) don't work. It just looks like a bland TV remake; they don't dare make it too different because they want to appease the original fans. The songs make the pace drag- the original film was pacy and quick-witted but here they take what was conveyed by a short moment in the original and drag it out into a song that insults your intelligence by singing the subtext.

The biggest change (other than some of the character's ethnicity but that doesn't impact the enjoyment) is in Regina. In the original she's a Barbie- looks pretty and approachable so you can see why Cady would be drawn in (particularly as Janice is a bit of a jerk and insists on calling her by the wrong name), but is toxic underneath, whereas this Regina looks like a skanky bully. There's no way you could mistake this Regina as anything other than a bully. To be fair her look looks more 2024 (although the 2004 aesthetic is used a lot elsewhere in the film, particularly in Cady's transformation) but it doesn't make sense with the iconic line about wearing pink on Wednesdays. This girl doesn't look like she's worn pink in her life! She also accuses Karen of being promiscuous when Regina looks like she's been around the block multiple times. Renee Rapp plays this version very well, it just makes no sense.

The guy playing Aaron Samuels just looks ordinary, no idea why Cady would be taken in or why Regina would ever have bothered with him. Rapp's is the closest thing to a star turn and even then, the character's all wrong. The teachers (some of which are from the original) are underused and wasted; obviously the focus is on the children but why not give them a few funny moments, particularly as the children are inexperienced and can't carry the film like Lindsey Logan could for the original?

They have to have the Burn Book because it's an iconic part of the original but it just looks tame compared with social media, which the entire school is shown as using and slagging off people on. Where did Regina even get the photos to put in it (we're meant to believe she did it one week when her phone was confiscated). Why not update it to be a private social media accounts/group chat gone public? The film is not really trying to be an update, more like a copy but tacking on social media and bland songs.

I love a good musical and there have been some good stage adaptations of musicals (e.g. Hairspray and Groundhog Day). This was dreadful. Back in the 2000s this would have gone straight to video, which was actually the original intention of the filmmakers (that it would have gone straight to a streaming service, Paramount Plus). Tells you everything you need to know!

This film has not aged well! The film revolves around a single joke- Ryan Reynolds in a fat suit playing a dorky teen in love with his glamorous best friend, and then suddenly he becomes Ryan Reynolds and the best friend (Amy Smart) fancies him. Because the plot is so run-of-the-mill, Anna Faris is brought in to play a bunny boiling superstar singer who has no talent and relies on manic sex appeal. She is, as intended to be, an incredible nuisance.

Ostensibly it's a rom-com except there's no rom (film seems geared towards men rather than women). The concept of the 'friend zone' is all based around the idea that if a guy is nice to a woman and acts as a friend, she is obliged to have sex with him. Amy Smart as the best friend comes off as a shallow jerk as it basically implies she only fancies him now because he's thin. Reynolds' character is too much of an entitled jerk for us to root for him and there's no chemistry.

The only funny character in it is the love rival Dusty (played by Chris Klein) but that's not enough reason to watch a film that's not even trashy in a fun way.