“Mean Girls” is a pivotal picture that has definitely made its mark on Hollywood. The original 2004 film has become deeply embedded into pop culture and is well-known around the world. Now, we have the newest addition to the list of the film’s memorabilia: a “Mean Girls” movie-musical.
Actress and comedian Tina Fey, creator of both the original film and its broadway rendition, gave her film a modern and musical twist as “Mean Girls” hit the big screen once again earlier this month.
The remake is a combination of the original film’s premise and the tunes from the Broadway Musical. To me, movie-musicals can be hard to pull off, as it can be difficult to correctly balance both elements. As someone who is an avid fan of the movie and the musical alike, I would say I was highly anticipating the release of this film.
First and foremost, I must say the casting was definitely a strength of this film. Reneé Rapp puts on a spell-binding performance as queen bee Regina George, recapturing her character perfectly. Bebe Wood and Avantika Vandanapu also put on exquisite performances as Gretchen Weiners and Karen Shetty. Aside from new cast members, it was refreshing to see returning faces to the film, such as Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprising their roles as Ms. Norberry and Principal DuVall.
Before I saw this film, I gathered there was controversy surrounding the songs included in the film, such as “Meet the Plastics,” “Apex Predator” and “World Burn.” Many people on social media platforms such as X and TikTok have expressed their disappointment in the film versions of the original songs, claiming that they sounded too different or even worse than the original broadway versions.
This doesn’t go without saying that the movie was completely perfect. There were some quirks of the film, such as the awkward product placement of e.l.f. cosmetics and Secret deodorant throughout the film, but those moments are very minimal and easily overshadowed by the many other great aspects of the movie, from Avantika’s performance of “Sexy” to the surprising guest appearance of Lindsay Lohan, who played the original Cady Heron in 2004. Rapp’s vocals killed every number throughout the movie, and Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey stunned me as they magnificently performed every song, especially during “Revenge Party.”
Many people were expecting this new film to be an exact version of the musical and were disappointed when it didn’t live up to their expectations. Movie musicals and Broadway musicals are going to be similar, but they will also have major differences, and that is what I expected. Broadway musical performances are going to be much more dramatized, whereas musical performances depicted in film are going to have theatrics with a more realistic approach.
Overall, I liked this new “Mean Girls” iteration, as it was enjoyable, nostalgic and just overall a genuinely good musical film that still captures the same “fetch” feeling as the first. I think it deserves much more praise and credit than what others are giving it, and if you think you disagree, give this film a watch and see for yourself. With that being said, I give “Mean Girls” (2024) four out of five goats.
