Mean Girls (2024) Review
Theatrical Movie Review - Comedy/Musical
In 2004, Tina Fey adapted Rosalind Wiseman’s book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” into the movie “Mean Girls.” It became a cult classic that is quoted endlessly by its fans and by me (I’m not a regular mom). In 2017, the movie was adapted into a musical, with a book by Tina Fey, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and music by Jeff Richmond. And this year, that musical was adapted into a film directed by Samantha James and Arturo Perez Jr.
The new film follows the same storyline as the original. Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) goes from being homeschooled in Kenya to attending North Shore High School in the United States. She immediately garners the attention of Regina George (Renee Rapp) and the rest of the Plastics. But when Regina sabotages Cady’s attempts to date Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she teams up with Damian (Jaquel Spivey) and Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) to try to bring down the queen bee. Things quickly get out of hand, and the school must come together before someone is seriously hurt. Or at least before someone else is seriously hurt.
The remake is definitely a good time. It keeps most of what made the original a classic while eliminating some of the more problematic elements. I quite enjoyed the way that it used elements of social media throughout, bringing it into the present while allowing the basic themes to remain intact. After all, a lot of the drama in high school remains the same, even if the way it is experienced changes it.
The cast in this is quite good. Rapp reprises her Broadway role to play Regina; you can tell she is comfortable with that character. She oozes confidence and power. Cravalho and Spivey had excellent chemistry and had my favorite voices in the film. Tina Fey returned as Ms. Norbury and gave one of the best fakeouts in the movie. Rice felt like the weakest link in the film, giving a fine performance but with singing that didn’t quite stand up to the rest of the cast.
My biggest complaint with this movie was that it didn’t go hard enough as a musical. I don’t know if it was the producers, the studio, or the directors, but they chose to eliminate many songs, which makes sense for run time. But they also softened the Broadway edges off several songs, making it more like a movie with its cast stopping to sing pop songs in the middle of a scene rather than a full musical. I felt that most keenly during “Meet the Plastics” when Karen and Gretchen’s parts were axed. If you’re going to adapt a musical, make it a musical.
Overall, this is a fun time at the movies. It was interesting to see this story updated for a new generation of viewers. But I have to be honest: without this being a proper musical, I have a feeling that if I’m in the mood to watch “Mean Girls,” I’ll probably stick with the 2004 version.
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on January 28, 2024.
Love the actors and the songs but not my favorite