Wow...
I saw the film last night at the Lowes 34th. 12:01 showing. I was blown away. Mind you I have only seen the original film...have only seen clips of the musical and own the cast album. I think I had a smile on my face from beginning to end.
As many reservations I have about Travolta (mostly because he's a freaky scientologist), I must say I loved him in this role. While he's not Divine or Harvey, he brings a whole new spin to the character. Now I know everyone is annoyed by the accent he used, but if you listen to John Water's narration in his earlier films (Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, etc), Waters has a very similar accent, so apparently there ARE people in Baltimore who talk that way. So just go in with an open mind.
I was VERY pleased with Amanda Bynes, while her role is pared way down. She steals the scenes shes in. She has an undeniable charm and very sweet chemistry with Elijah Kelly who plays Seaweed Stubbs. Kelly is also quite amazing, he gives Seaweed a sexyness that I have never seen anyone else radiate. Let's just say, he's hot.
The only weak link in my opinion is Michele Pfieffer. Don't get me wrong, I love her, and she's got the look down flawless. But the 2 other Velma's Debbie Harry and Linda Hart, had bitchiness and the voice, respectively, Michele's singing is a bit weak and she needed to be a bit more dominant.
Poor Britney Snow...she doesn't even get to sing
Unfortunately, Amber is less prominent in the movie, she doesn't feel like a real threat to Tracy.
But the movie doesn't suffer because of either of those things. I had a smile from ear to ear the whole movie. Especially during You Can't Stop The Beat. The staging and choreography are amazing. Other standouts are Welcome to The 60's and Run And Tell That. I loved the 3 chorus girls too...I almost wished that had gotten Anika Noni Rose to be one of them.
Be sure to stay though the closing credits...Mama I'm a Big Girl Now. It's great to hear all 3 Tracy's do the song...plus a certain raspy voiced star pops up for a line towards the end of the song.