Mean Girls, 2024
✫ 7/10
Favorite Character: Gretchen (“Fetchen”) Wieners
Favorite Quote: “Don’t worry, I will never tell Regina what you said. I am very trustworthy. Karen’s had sex with eleven people and I’ve never told anyone!”
When I first heard they were making a new Mean Girls, I was horrified. “How dare they even go near the original?” we all seemed to think. But when I learned that it was a musical, starring Reneé Rapp and Auli’i Cravalho – Rapp having played Regina George on Broadway four years previous, and Cravalho no less than Moana herself – I was hooked.
The 2004 Mean Girls has been a childhood staple, and is one of the most influential films in teenage fashion, make-up, attitudes and even school cliques. It seems there isn't a single person who has seen Mean Girls and not adopted some element of it into their own lives and identities. From the pink and the ponytails (only once a week!), to the pretty and plastic, Regina George and her crew became pop culture icons that dominated not only the fictional lunch hall, but the real one too.
It is no wonder, then, that there was push behind the scenes for a second movie. Mean Girls 2 was released in 2011 but did not reach the heady heights of the original. In 2018 however, Mean Girls opened on Broadway, and was met with high praise. Sticking closely to the original, with the addition of some great songs (belted out spectacularly by various lead singers, including Reneé Rapp from 2019–2020) and a strong ensemble cast, the Broadway production was popular with both fans of the original who grew up with the film, and those just learning about it through the musical. The show closed due to COVID-19 in March 2020, after 833 performances.
The popularity of the Broadway musical sparked more closed-door discussions, and in 2024, Mean Girls (the musical movie) was released. Initial criticism arose with many confused and disappointed in it being a musical, and others finding the songs to have been reduced for the movie. Despite many disliking it initially, obsession continued to grow, not just with the movie itself but also (perhaps moreso) with the lead, Reneé Rapp.
I found her performance as queen bee Regina George to be both compelling in its newness, whilst also paying homage to the original Rachel McAdams role. Her experience on Broadway only improves her film acting, and her voice is flawless. I wanted some songs with more power to them, to give Rapp the chance to truly belt them out. Rapp’s Regina George has a comfortable nuance to her; a realness and even a sense of vulnerability, which makes her all the more pleasing to watch, and the final scenes with her in her neck brace (after being hit by a bus, in case you weren't aware) both funnier and sweeter. At the heart of it all, queen bee Regina is just a girl, trapped in the cycle of being mean.
Rapp herself has explained that this new Mean Girls is not a rewrite of the original, or trying to better it. Instead, it is Mean Girls as it would be today, and even includes TikTok and Snapchat. The film does, unfortunately, seem a little messy due to this, as it tries to cater to both old school and modern day trends and quirks. The opening, for example, includes Janice and Damian (played by Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey) making a TikTok whilst performing the opening number, A Cautionary Tale. The vertical formatting of the TikTok was quite a jarring and almost corny way to open a movie, and for many who were unaware of the musical element of this film, it was far from encouraging. But as the movie went on, it did continue to improve with its performances from such a stellar cast, who clearly wanted to do the original and the Broadway musical justice.
Both Cravalho and Spivey put in iconic performances as the modern day Janice and Damian, and their double-act energy came through the screen with many funny, and heart-wrenching, moments. Avantika and Bebe Wood star alongside Rapp as Karen Smith and Gretchen Wieners. Avantika plays a perfect Karen, really leaning into her pure-of-heart nature, whilst also performing an excellent rendition of Sexy during the Halloween scene. Gretchen’s vulnerability is also played into by Wood, who delivers an emotional performance of What’s Wrong With Me? and portrays the imposter syndrome that many teenagers relate to.
As far as casting is concerned, Rapp, Avantika and Wood make an iconic Plastics trio, and after inviting a hesitant Cady Heron into their group, they become almost as iconic as the original group. Angourie Rice plays Cady, and is wonderful in her own right whilst also acknowledging the evergreen Lindsay Lohan – who even makes an appearance as a moderator at the Mathletes tournament! The cast is diverse, powerful, and a lot of fun to watch as well as listen to; it is a musical after all. With engaging scenes of heartbreak and teenage angst, exciting dance choreography, and an effective homage to the original, this Mean Girls is a wholesome tribute to the power of friendship, and the collective journey through teenagehood that has forever been a universal minefield of lust, loneliness, and love.
Whatever you thought of the original, and of this 2024 musical adaptation, Mean Girls continues to prove one thing: plastic is forever.
