The Mean Girls are back in the third story, following Tina Fey’s original “Mean Girls” movie, this time back in theaters for a new generation.
The new “Mean Girls” movie, released in 2024, stars Renee Rapp, Avantika Vandanapu, Angourie Rice, and Christopher Briney. Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. directed the movie, which Fey also wrote.
The movie follows the same storyline as the original 2004 movie, but the remake has musical aspects with songs from the Broadway musical, which ran from 2018-2020. The movie features 12 musical scenes and acts from both the movie and the show.
The movie features returning cast members from the original movie, including Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, and Lindsey Lohan. Mean Girls is rated PG-13 for sexual material, strong language, and teen drinking.
One of the main similarities between the new and original movies is the storyline. The storyline follows Cady, the new girl played by Angourie Rice, as she navigates through high school. Cady faces new friends, crushes, and mean girls. The iconic mean girl group is named ‘The Plastics’ and includes Gretchen, played by Bebe Wood, Karen, played by Avantika Vandanapu, and the queen bee, Regina George, played by Renee Rapp. The Plastics befriend Cady, and she becomes the fourth addition to the group.
The new movie is different from the original because it incorporates aspects of a musical. In the original movie, Cady Herron is the narrator, but Janis and Damion are the narrators in the new movie. Social media plays a massive role in the movie, with TikTok and Instagram incorporated heavily. Many iconic aspects of the movie were changed to “fit the times” or be more culturally appropriate.
I believe “Mean Girls” was the remake no one requested. The new adaptation was a disappointment compared to the original movie; to be fair, it is hard to recreate perfection, but I think this could have been a better effort. The movie could have been advertised better because I did not know this would be a musical, but this was an advertising tactic because the singing and dancing were not something to brag about. The movie added no original content that felt necessary, and most of the movie felt recycled. The musical aspects of the movie fell flat. I think having good singers in a musical is important, but the actors did not deliver.
The directors removed some of the best songs from the Broadway show, like “Meet the Plastics” and “Where Do You Belong,” a bold move for a film being remade based on the Broadway show.
There were also a lot of product placements that were very out of place for the movie; they felt forced. Another part of the movie that felt out of place was the costuming. The Plastics were supposed to portray wealthy girls who, in a way, look down on everyone else because they are better and more prosperous; their costumes, however, needed to match this vibe, and once again, felt like they fled too far from the original.
I did, however, like Renee Rapp’s portrayal of Regina George. In my opinion, she is a good actress and singer, and she brought new angles to Regina that made the movie more bearable. Renee Rapp was one of the few reasons I liked the new movie, and I think she was the only actor cast true to the role.
Mean Girls (2024) was not the movie for me. I did not like the musical parts, and the movie left a bad taste in my mouth. You would be better off saving money and not going to the theaters. If you want to watch a good movie, watch the original movie “Mean Girls”; it is truly iconic.
