Twenty years after the 2004 teen comedy, Mean Girls burst its way onto cinema screens, another Mean Girls movie is making its cinematic debut. This new film – also titled Mean Girls – is a teen comedy just like its predecessor, but this time around it’s a musical too!
Based on the Broadway show of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the original film, this latest incarnation of Mean Girls is directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. The movie stars Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Tina Fey, Busy Philipps, and Tim Meadows, and tells the story of sixteen-year-old Cady Heron and the troubles she encounters as a high school teen.
In the movie, Cady and her mother move back to the US having spent years living in Kenya. After being home schooled all of her life, Cady is finally about to experience what high school is really like, having enrolled at North Shore High.
On Cady’s first day she meets best pals (and complete outsiders) Janis ʻImi’ike and Damian Hubbard. The pair befriend Cady, familiarise her with the school, and introduce her to all of the different cliques that make up the student body.
One of these cliques is the ‘Plastics’ – a group of pretentious girls led by queen bee, Regina George. Janis dislikes Regina, but when the Plastics invite Cady to join them, Janis sees this as a way for Cady to infiltrate the group and report back.
Cady goes along with the plan and soon becomes a member of the Plastics. But over time the plan backfires and friendships are put to the test.
If you’re familiar with the original version of Mean Girls, and you’ve just read through the premise of this new iteration, you’ll know you’re on well-worn ground. The 2024 version of Mean Girls features the same characters as the original film, covers the same plot points, and essentially offers a re-run of what came before.
Where things differ this time around is in the (mostly) all-new casting, as well as in the inclusion of a sizeable collection of show tunes. The original film wasn’t a musical and didn’t include any songs, but this one is and this one does.
Without these songs, Mean Girls 2024 would be more or less a rinse and repeat of past glories, but with them the film has something new to offer. And even though at times this new movie does feel a bit too much of a repeat cycle, there’s no getting away from the fact it is a lot of fun.
Yes, on the surface it does appear as if Paramount Pictures have essentially served up a stealth remake in disguise (those pesky scamps), but on this occasion I’m happy to let it slide. Mean Girls is fun, witty, and thanks to the toe tappin’ tunes, it is also highly entertaining.
In terms of the story, there’s really not much to add. The film is so closely aligned to the original, there’s not a lot to say that hasn’t already been said by many people over the past twenty years.
The original Mean Girls was always a sharp movie, and this latest film is the same. To drive this point home, the screenwriter of the original film, comedian Tina Fey, is back on board as the screenwriter of this film, so it carries the same tone, the same vibe, and many of the same lines.
In fact, if you’re worried this film won’t have all the iconic lines which made the original movie so quotable, fear not, they’re all here. The classic quotes all pop-up exactly where you expect them to, and none have been left out.
So, sidestepping the story, because there’s no point in discussing it, the real draw of this film is the songs. From the lively ‘Apex Predator‘ and the heartfelt ‘What’s Wrong with Me?‘, to the fist pumping ‘Revenge Party‘, and the amusing use of the ‘iCarly’ theme, Mean Girls is loaded with top notch tracks.
As soon as the first song kicks in, it’s clear there is going to be plenty of smiles on the horizon. Sure, not all of the songs are amazing, but none are particularly duff, and this is always important.
I always say musicals live and die by their songs, and as Mean Girls isn’t currently six feet under, I’d say this is a good indication of the quality on offer. Whether the songs have longevity remains to be seen, but I expect one or two will become popular with audiences, and all of them work perfectly well within the context of the film.
The musical numbers also allow the film to delve deeper into the mindset of the characters. Sure, the story covers what’s needed when it comes to emotions and character development, but having a few extra insights through the use of music is never a bad thing.
Outside of the music, Mean Girls also boasts a great cast, with Angourie Rice well-suited for the role of Cady, and Reneé Rapp perfect as super-bitch Regina George. Rapp previously played Regina in the Broadway production of Mean Girls, so she’s more than capable of tackling the film version of the character.
The direction is also good, with directing duo Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. making some great choices with the material. Mean Girls was originally conceived as a direct-to-streaming title to appear on Paramount+, but positive test screenings got it bumped up to a theatrical release and a large part of this is down to the directing team.
Thumbs up all round? You bet!
I only have two real criticisms with Mean Girls, and personally, these didn’t really impact my overall enjoyment of the film. The first is to do with the previously mentioned recycled story, which does feel a bit lazy.
Of course, this film is an adaptation of the stage show, so it was always going to repeat material, but because the story is so close to the original, it does feel a shame this couldn’t be something different. Mean Girls was a breath of fresh air back in 2004, because it offered something new, so in comparison this latest version does lack the same creative spark.
My other criticism is that I feel this movie is a tad too long. It runs around fifteen minutes longer than the original, and this is perhaps fifteen minutes longer than I’d like.
The 2004 version was 97-minutes long, which is usually fine for a film, but I always felt it was a few minutes longer than it needed to be. With the 2024 version stretching things even further, I have to say a couple of edits to speed things up wouldn’t have gone amiss.
While Mean Girls does suffer a little from a case of déjà vu, and it lacks the fresh feeling which accompanied the original, there is something here which still works. The song book is strong, the performances match, and it is very entertaining.
And I want to reiterate the word ‘entertaining’, because this is key. There have been too many reboots, remakes, or reinterpretations as of late which have been utter crap, and yet this isn’t one of them.
OK, technically Mean Girls isn’t a reboot, remake, or reinterpretation, as it is an adaptation of the stage show, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking this isn’t just a repacking exercise. However, call it whatever you want, Mean Girls is enjoyable stuff, which is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and have you laughing in the aisles between mouthfuls of popcorn.
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