On January 12, the new version of Mean Girls was released in theaters. It was based on Mean Girls: The Musical, which was in turn inspired by the 2004 movie, Mean Girls. This musical movie version stars Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey.
I could’ve made a comment on just about every aspect of this movie, but I’ll spare you with just my highlight thoughts. I also feel like I should preface this by saying I have never listened to the musical. Additionally, I am a known advocate of media adaptations changing aspects to fit the new format better and appeal to a different audience. So, if you don’t agree with that, you may not like it when I say I really enjoyed this movie. Also, spoilers ahead!
My initial reaction to Mean Girls is that I was laughing through almost the entire movie, either at the written jokes or sometimes the sheer hilarity of them breaking into song and dance (I’m looking at you, fisheye shot of Angourie Rice in “Revenge Party”). It took a bit of getting used to their transitions between the singing and non-musical portions, but, to be fair, I always find it awkward when they sing in movies.
I’ll begin with some of my more negative thoughts. One of the biggest things I missed from the original movie, were the crude (yet iconic) lines. For example, the whole “That is the ugliest f-ing skirt I’ve ever seen” moment wasn’t in this version, nor the classic set of lines Regina says right before she gets hit by the bus – it was covered over in song! Many of the original things written in the Burn Book were also reformed to be more “correct” by today’s standards. However, I think those changes took a lot of the edge off the supposed meanness of the Plastics. It’s what the 2004 movie is known for, so if you’re going to see a new version of that story, you know what they say is rude, and shouldn’t be said about someone. They don’t need to change that. I know this version is not supposed to be a remake of the original movie, but having that bite to the jokes would have appealed to the large audience who was going to see a Mean Girls movie. I missed a lot of it.
Now, about the songs. As I said, I have never listened to the original musical fully, so the only thing I knew about the music beforehand were clips I saw on TikTok of people comparing the Broadway version to the movie version. I have to admit, side by side, the movie does not come close to matching the production, emotion and singing talent of the original musical. However, while watching the movie, a lot of these criticisms were forgotten. I think that the stylistic changes they made to the songs make sense for the way the movie was shot and the fact that it’s, you know, a movie (not a full-scale Broadway production).
For example, the original version of the song “Sexy” had very clear Broadway production choices in its use of instrumentals, beat, etc. The changes to the movie version make the song appeal to a wider, non-theater-loving audience. It fits much better into the movie as a “soundtrack” song that has good replay value. The poppier tone is also very modern and aligns with the direction pop music is going from 2024 onward. “Stupid With Love,” however, is probably the song I saw most people having issues with. Again, I think that the changes they made make sense for the song being in a movie. It positions Cady in this dreamy, lovelorn state, making her ineptness surrounding love read as a lament. If they used the style of the Broadway version, it would make movie-Cady seem incredibly overexcited and almost outgoing, when in the beginning she is supposed to be shy and lost in her new environment, leading to everyone using her to get their revenge. While Angourie Rice is not the strongest singer in the cast, I think she holds up okay in the new version given the changes. It goes without saying that Reneé Rapp and Auli’i Cravalho, both seasoned singers who have showcased their talent before (Rapp played Regina George on Broadway, and Cravalho was the voice of Moana), carried the vocals of the other songs.
Going into the movie, I also had my doubts about Chris Briney as Aaron. I had only seen him in The Summer I Turned Pretty, and so I wondered how well he would play a likable, everybody-wants-him character. But after watching the movie, I think he fell into the role pretty well. His look fits an above-average high school jock and, yes, he barely had any personality, but the original Aaron doesn’t have much dimension either so it worked well. The parent casting was also surprisingly on point. Angourie Rice and Jenna Fischer, who played Cady’s mother, looked scarily similar, as did Reneé Rapp and Busy Philipps, Regina’s cool mom. For fans of the original movie, it was also great to see Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their roles as Ms. Norbury and Principal Duvall respectively. Even Lindsay Lohan, the original Cady Heron, made an appearance as the moderator for the mathletes competition, which was a really fun and unexpected moment. The star of the show character for me, though, was Damien (played by Jacquel Spivey). Everything he said was so effortlessly funny. Him singing a black-and-white French version of the iCarly theme song? Life-changing. His delivery of the line “And none for Gretchen Weiners, bye”? So fetch.
I’ll end this by talking about one of my favorite parts of the movie, which was the entire Halloween party. Everybody looked great in their costumes, and the two songs played during the event (“Sexy” and “Someone Gets Hurt”) were incredible to listen to for the first time. My favorite part was the staging and choreography during “Someone Gets Hurt.” As Regina circles the party, the lights are dark except for a blue glow, and all the extras move and shake like puppets being controlled on a string. I thought it was a great way of incorporating more theatrical elements of production into the movie while still moving the plot along and being visually interesting.
Overall, nothing can top the original Mean Girls for me; it was just too much of a pop culture moment to ever be repeated. However, as a movie adaptation of the musical, Mean Girls (2024) was great fun to watch. I would recommend you catch a showing if you’re looking for an entertaining evening.