Musical or movie?

I've seen the movie and the musical, so I can answer unbiasedly when I say I like the musical way more.

Don't get me wrong, the movie is still decent. But there's a few things in the musical that just lack in the movie.

For one, I don't feel as connected to the characters when I watch the movie. There should be that moment where you go; oh wow, I relate to this character on a personal level. I got that with Veronica in the musical, but not the movie version.

Heather, Kurt, and Ram don't haunt Veronica in the movie. Heather does once in a dream, and that's it. Honestly, the three of them tagging along with Veronica is one of my favorite aspects of the musical; it's visual representation of the guilt and regret following Veronica around as she tries to return things back to normal. But that's not in the movie, and in my opinion, makes Veronica a bit monotoned.

J.D. is just straight up a homicidal douche in the movie. In the musical, while there are NO excuses for his actions, J.D.'s a bit easier to sympathize with. This is probably because he actually loves Veronica in the musical. You know he does because you see and hear it in songs like Our Love is God, Meant to Be Yours, and I Am Damaged. In the movie, J.D. doesn't even cry about Veronica's "suicide". He's like "well, that really sucks, I'm gonna spill my evil plan to your dead corpse and then leave".

Finally, I feel like there's way more character development with Veronica in the musical. In the movie, when we meet Veronica, she's already apart of the Heathers. You miss the whole "I believe there's good in everyone even though this school is Hell" that we get in the beginning of the musical. Not only do I feel that this is essential to Veronica's character development, I also feel that this is necessary to explain the morals behind her actions. In the movie, she saves everyone rather apathetically, like, "I'm only doing this because I know it's the right thing to do, but it doesn't work out then whatever". I feel like in the musical, Veronica shows a value for life in the very beginning which better helps explain her actions late in Act II.

Sorry that day 1 of this challenge turned into a critical analysis of the movie 😂