Mean Girls (2024) – Review
112 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Tina Fey (based on the stage musical)
Directed by Samantha Jayne + Arturo Perez, Jr.
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Having never watched the original 2004 version when this project was announced, I was hesitant about this “updated” version. I also wasn’t initially aware the this was going to be the cinematic version of the Broadway musical.
My interest, initially at a “meh,” dropped almost immediately to “fuuu——dge.”
If you read or listened to my thoughts on the recent release of The Color Purple, you can understand.
Regardless, as I write these words in the lobby of the theater waiting to screen this updated Mean Girls, I have to say that I have, finally, watched the original, as it aired last night on Showtime while I was channel surfing.
2004 saw Lindsay Lohan at the peak of her powers, and her charisma shone through. Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and (an unrecognizable to me, at least) Lacey Chabert are the “Plastics” who rule the school…
And they’re all so… young.
But I digress.
I’m curious how much this will be updated for “modern audiences,” especially the “nearly too gay to function” bit.
Watching the original, you can kind of guess where they might drop some of the musical numbers, so I’ll be interested to see if I guess correctly.
Now, it’s time to screen:
Well… that was something. Some thoughts:
- The gay guy is still gay… and still fat. Is this a cinematic set that is required to be used?
- Janis, the quasi-goth-esque girl from the original is no longer so… she’s an eccentric artistic, and where in the original film (and I had to verify this with another critic to make sure I was remembering this right) she was falsely labelled a “dyke,” she ended up with a guy. Here, she’s absolutely gay, and takes a girl to the Spring Fling dance.
- God forbid Cady have a male parental figure in 2024…
- In the original, the “Burn Book” was like an analog precursor to the abuse that occurs every day on social media today, but I can’t decide if this version is a brilliant parody/satire of modern TikTok/X/Instagram/Snapchat generation and behaviors or not. Let’s also not overlook that this version calls the Burn Book something the Plastics did in Middle School, when it was an actively maintained item in the original. Like it was some sort of phase they had grown out of until Cady showed up. They had NOT.
- “Rockin’ Around the Pole” is a classy little number… not.
- This film isn’t nearly as clever or creative as Barbie in its feminism. If Barbie was a scalpel, surgically dissecting women’s issues, Mean Girls is a cleaver, hacking at girl power, female empowerment, and dudes suck. The gymnasium apology scene is cringier than the original, despite the fact that it, like the rest of the film, recycles 90% of the dialogue of the original.
Now, in case you think I’m just sitting here trashing the film, let me say that despite my inherent bent against musicals, I found two of the numbers here to be worth mentioning: “Introducing the Plastics” gives Regina a villainous introduction on par with Scar from the Lion King. “I’d Rather Be Me” channels early Avril Lavigne-esque rockers and feels like we’re going to be hearing it all the time moving forward. A true teen anthem.
The performances are… fine, I suppose. At certain points, Renee Rapp’s Regina seemed to actually become, physically, Rachel McAdams in a couple instants, but aside from the inherently adorable Angourie Rice trying to fill Lohan’s sneakers, the rest of the cast is a bit unremarkable.
It’s the nature of the genre, I suppose; certain archetypes are required to be present, no matter who fills their shoes.
Although Auli’i Cravalho as Janis certainly can sing. She’s probably the reason “I’d Rather Be Me” is so catchy.
BTW, Lindsay gets an appropriate cameo. It’s perfectly placed and carries the exact amount of humor necessary to avoid being dismissible as a gimmick (even if it is…).
Fans of the original, or who enjoyed the stage production, will more than likely enjoy this one.
Even if I was barely able to sit through it and the endless cries of “yaaasss, Queen!” from the audience.
Mean Girls (2024) < Mean Girls (2004) <<<<< Heathers (1988)
Mean Girls is in theaters now and stars Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Ashley Park, Tina Fey, with Tim Meadows.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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