Mean Girls (2024)
It's surprising how enjoyable the new
musical version of Mean Girls is since the original 2004 film is one of
the best comedies of its year. The new movie is based on the Broadway musical
of Mean Girls, which in turn is based on the 2004 movie. Both movies,
and the Broadway's book, are written by Tina Fey and based on Rosalind
Wiseman's 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes.
As the setup goes, previously
homeschooled Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is the new student at North Shore High
School and makes friends with two outsiders, Janis (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian
(Jaquel Spivey). Eventually, Cady falls in with the "Plastics," an elite clique
led the egomaniacal Regina George (Reneé Rapp). It becomes a battle of wits
when Cady falls for Regina's ex-boyfriend (Christopher Briney).
This is not a lazy cut and paste job.
Sure, the characters and story are the same and there are some familiar
moments, but it's not a scene for scene remake with just musical numbers thrown
in. Fey has revamped her original script with different gags and situations.
Some songs are goofy Grease 2
caliber numbers and that's not a good thing, but there are some memorable
showstoppers like "Revenge Party" and "I'd Rather Be Me."
Rice is charming as Cady, and while
singer/actress Rapp can totally belt out a song, the script should have allowed
her character to be a bit more venomous like Rachel McAdams' original Regina
George. That can also be said about the new film in general—it needs a little
more satirical bite. Still, this musical version of Mean Girls is clever
and a lot of fun.
