Writing a review for the new Mean Girls is an interesting experience because I had a good time watching it. As a musical junkie I enjoyed the songs and found the performances effective for the most part. At the same time I fully admit it is a pale imitation of it 2004 original film and the musical it is based on so I have a hard time defending it as a good and necessary film to exist in 2024. What can I say? Sometimes I just like lame musicals? I am the girl who went fresh on Cats and Dear Evan Hansen so take this for what you will. I just like musicals...(and I say that acknowledging the studios annoying attempt to hide that this was in fact a musical!!)
Basically the things I think work in this new Mean Girls is most of the musical numbers. I think they are staged and sung well. I particularly liked the whole "Revenge Party" sequence and the way it flowed in one shot from the school to the party. I'm sad they cut so many songs from the Broadway show (especially "Fearless") but do appreciate they for the most part got a cast who can actually seen like Renee Rapp (she crushes "Someone Gets Hurt") and Auli'i Cravalho who shines both singing and acting as Janice (I loved "I'd Rather Be Me".) Broadway vet Jaquel Spivey was also excellent as Damian and they together made me wish the movie was about the two of them and not bland Cady.
I do think Angourie Rice is more believable as the homeschooling nerd than Lindsay Lohan although her singing is not up to the standards of the rest of the cast all of Aaron's singing is removed for pretty face Christopher Briney (couldn't they have found a pretty face who could also sing?)
Anyway, the plot and script are nearly identical to the original film except the edginess of some of the jokes have been sanded away- some cases in ways I don't even understand. For example, Karen makes a very funny joke in her apology at the gym and they change it from diarrhea at a Barnes and Noble to a ferris wheel which could be fine but they take out the funniest part of the joke when she says "I'm sorry for repeating it now" and here she says "I'm sorry for the people below." It's a downgrade if you ask me because it negates the social awkwardness of the confession at that moment.
Pretty much all the humor for the adults was way dumbed down especially Tim Meadows as Mr Duvall who they give a relationship to that was strange and take out his iconic line "Hell no. I did not leave the Southside for this."
Tina Fey, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps are all not as good as their 2004 counterparts. I liked Bebe Wood as Gretchen and Avantika was suitably ditzy as Karen. I'm not sure they took out Gretchen's Dad inventing the toaster strudel but whatever they were pretty good. I thought it was pretty clever how they worked in social media particularly with the Burn Book into the movie. It was an attempt to make it fresh and new.
It's the classic problem with remakes. The stuff they keep can feel pointless and the stuff they leave out surprising. In the end enjoyment of this new version will depend on how much you appreciate the addition of songs to the Mean Girls formula. If you are like me and really enjoy musicals, and this musical in particular it may provide some pleasure for you. If that doesn't do it for you than stay home and just watch the original. It will not win you over.
Also I just learned today there was a Mean Girls 2. I guess at least it was better than that. Fetch!
6 out of 10
Smile worthy
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