Review: ‘Mean Girls’ is the fetch musical update to a teen classic
‘Mean Girls’ (2024) brings some of the Broadway hit’s songs to the big screen, taking advantage of the screen medium to amp up the choreography.
Twenty years ago, a film co-written by comedian Tina Fey and Rosalind Wiseman tried to make “fetch” a thing, define the absurdity of social hierarchies and shed a comedic light on the consequences of girl-on-girl malice in high school. The result was a highly quotable entry into the pop culture zeitgeist that stands to this day — and is being renewed by its second trip to the big screen, now adapting the stage musical version of the story for the movies. The revitalized Mean Girls boasts a (mostly) new cast and songs never-before-heard in cinema, as well as some welcome updates to the narrative.
Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) grew up in Africa, but is now trading the ferociousness of the jungle for the savagery of American high school. Clueless of how to navigate her new surroundings, she’s first pitied and befriended by fellow outcasts, Janis ‘Imi’ike (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey). But then, she’s invited by Queen Bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp) to sit at the popular lunch table, alongside “Plastics” minions, Karen Shetty (Avantika) and Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood). The outsiders seize the opportunity to infiltrate the fashionable clique, but it’s only a matter of time before Cady is swept up by the power of being one of the cool kids and the irresistible possibility of being with her math class crush, Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney).
The story is undoubtedly familiar as it was not altered from the 2004 film. In fact, this picture shares a lot of the same dialogue and major plot points with the original movie, while also changing other elements of the narrative for the better — most notably, allowing Janis to bring a same-sex date to the Spring Fling. It also emphasizes the role social media and cellphones now play in any teen experience. But, even though it’s not being clearly stated in the film’s promotion, this is actually “Mean Girls: The Musical,” incorporating many of the songs from the Broadway adaptation of the film (but only adding 15 minutes to the original runtime). The picture opens with “A Cautionary Tale,” setting the scene for the movie much like a Greek chorus. Then songs like “Meet the Plastics,” “Apex Predator” and “Revenge Party” stand out with large-scale choreography and memorable tunes, while “Sexy” isn’t quite as impactful.
Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their roles as Ms. Norbury and Principal Duvall respectively, while some of the other adult parts are assumed by Jenna Fischer (Ms. Heron, now a single mom), Jon Hamm (Coach Carr, no longer a pedophile) and Busy Philipps (Mrs. George, now more sad than creepy). Most of the cast of young people are on point with Spivey standing above the rest and Cravalho’s jaded sarcasm landing perfectly. Conversely, Avantika’s Karen is a huge miss as she’s even more sexualized and dumber than before, which grows increasingly off-putting over the course of the picture. Nonetheless, the cherry on top of this pink treat is a cameo by an original cast member at just the right moment.
Directors: Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.
Starring: Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp and Auli’i Cravalho
