John Tucker Must Die

Since the explosion of American teen high-school romantic comedies onto our screens, the genre has become a tired replication of itself and each new addition now seems like a combination of previous ones. Sadly for those involved, 'John Tucker Must Die' is no different. Weaving 'She's All That' into 'Mean Girls' the plot follows the geekiest girl in school (who is, as always, far prettier than the supposed pretty ones) as she befriends the popular girls and starts dating the coolest guy on campus, John Tucker, in order to break his heart as revenge for his womanising ways. Given such a plot it is unsurprising that the movie follows the stereotypical blueprint others have used and offers little originality. Despite Metcalfe impressively poking fun at himself as the titular hunk and the undeniable fun of watching 26 year-olds play young teens, the movie fails to satisfy as, like teenagers themselves, it spends too much time and effort trying to be like everybody else. [Stephen Carty]