“On Wednesdays, we wear pink.”
“That’s so fetch.”
“It’s October 3rd.”
Mean Girls (2004)
Odds are if you were born in or around the year 2004, you are familiar with these famous quotes from the iconic film Mean Girls (2004). Mean Girls truly encapsulated the cultural phenomena of the Y2K era, from its star-studded cast to iconic quotes to witty dialogue. Yet, Mean Girls, unlike many other films of the era, has maintained its fame and cultural relevance because it centers on a universal experience: high school.
If you’re not familiar, the plot of Mean Girls follows the story of Cady Heron, a teenage girl who spent her entire life in Africa but who transfers to North Shore High School at the beginning of her junior year. At North Shore, she seeks to navigate the social food chain dominated by Queen Bee Regina George and the Plastics while trying to find her place within the social scene. The major themes of friendship, navigating adolescence, and, for lack of a better word, high school drama resonate across generations, and the movie has remained popular to audiences of all ages.
The Mean Girls (2004) movie was such a smash hit that it was later adapted into a Broadway show in 2013. The musical won several awards and was a hit with Broadway critics and fans of the movie alike.
In 2020, Paramount announced the development of a modern adaption of the Mean Girls musical, featuring teen stars like Renee Rapp (who played Regina George in the Broadway production), Christopher Briney, and Auli’i Cravalho. The Mean Girls musical movie was released in theaters on January 12th this past year.
While I heard mixed reviews about the movie, I loved the original film and the Broadway musical, so I felt compelled to see the newest rendition of this fan favorite.
While I found the newest Mean Girls (2024) entertaining and enjoyable, I will say that it paled in comparison to the original. For me, Renee Rapp as Regina George, Auli’i Cravalho as Janis ‘Imi’ike, and Jaquel Spivey as Damien Hubbard truly stole the show. They were all vocal powerhouses and killed their musical numbers. Avantika as Karen Shetty also gets an honorable mention as one of my favorite characters.
However, Angourie Rice as Cady Heron and Bebe Wood as Gretchen Weiners definitely fell flat compared to their Broadway and OG counterparts. Angourie Rice’s vocals really were not on par with Erika Henningsen’s vocals in the Broadway show. There were also some notable cameos from seasoned stars like Busy Phillips, Tina Fey, and Jenna Fischer.
I appreciated the nods to current pop culture moments (like Snapchat filters and TikTok dances) and the re-imagination of some of Mean Girls’ most iconic scenes (like the Jingle Bell Rock Dance). However, I do think that one of my favorite parts of the original—the outfits—fell flat.
I am absolutely fascinated by the style and fashion evolution of the Plastics and Cady in the original movie, and I think that the costume designer was simply not as in touch with these nuanced style shifts and relevant styles. For example, many of Regina’s outfits didn’t seem as expensive looking or trendy enough to me, and Cady’s didn’t show a significant change overtime.
In agreeing with most of the criticisms of the movie, my greatest criticism is that it didn’t fully embrace what it was—a movie musical. The movie cut songs left and right and clearly didn’t always prioritize vocal skill in the casting process (like in the cases of Angourie Rice and Christopher Briney).
While movie musicals can certainly be divisive amongst audiences, Mean Girls (2024) has the nostalgic appeal and cultural significance to get audiences in theaters no matter the specifics of the film.