On January 12, “Mean Girls” (2024) was released in theaters across the US. Based on the musical which originated from the iconic movie by the same name, the release was not-so-anticipated. Similar to many other movie sequels and book adaptations, many people, including myself, did not expect the new movie to live up to its source material. The original “Mean Girls” from 2004 was one of, if not the most iconic movie from the 2000s and is still remembered and quoted to this day.
“Mean Girls” (2004) is based on the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman. Directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey, the movie starred an 18-year-old Lindsay Lohan as the protagonist Cady Heron. The story follows her navigating high school after being homeschooled for her whole life. She befriends Janis and Damian and is quickly sucked into the ever so complicated social hierarchy of high school when she crosses paths with the Plastics. The Plastics: Regina, Gretchen, and Karen, are at the top of the social hierarchy. They decide to befriend her and now Cady has to also navigate the ever so complicated girl world.
The 2024 version’s biggest difference from the original movie is the fact that it’s a musical. Despite this, the promotional material gave no indication of the fact, leading audiences to believe it was simply a remake of the 2004 movie.
Angourie Rice, who plays Cady Heron, also lacks a musical background, along with many other of the lead actors. The most notable actors who do have a musical background are Reneé Rapp and Auliʻi Cravalho. Rapp, who plays Regina George, is a singer-songwriter who also played Regina George for a year in the broadway adaptation of “Mean Girls.” Cravalho, who plays Janis Ian, is most well known for her role of Moana.
It’s difficult to criticize the movie when its main shortcomings have to do with the fact that it’s a musical. Certain iconic scenes and lines were cut out of the movie due to musical numbers, notably Regina’s dialogue before getting hit by the bus. Many of these numbers also ended up feeling like an unnecessary over exaggeration of the original scene. After watching, I couldn’t recall a single song or melody, only the line “My name is Regina George,” which was repeated multiple times throughout the course of the movie.
The overall visual of the movie was also entirely different, as sets, costume, and dialogue were revamped to fit modern times, for better or for worse. Many actors were also unable to channel the same energy as the original actors. Rachel McAdams’ performance as Regina George was far too iconic and Rapp’s performance failed to portray the raw energy of McAdam’s Regina. A few that did deliver good performances were Bebe Wood and Avantika Vandanapu, who played Gretchen and Karen respectively, and were able to embody the personalities of the original characters.
Upon looking into what others online thought about the film, one point was brought up that made me realize a lot of why the energy of the original film was not met. The “mean girls” in the movie are not actually that mean. We never see Regina or the other Plastics interacting with the rest of the students, and if anything all that we see is Regina being mean to Gretchen and Karen. Even Cady remains static throughout the film, the change in her appearance and behavior being much more subtle. All this made the film feel a lot more dull than both the movie and the musical.
Overall the movie was able to meet my somewhat low expectations. Although maintaining the same plot as the source material, the 2024 version was unable to match the energy of the original film, and because of this fell short. While it is a musical film based on the Mean Girls musical, it was not marketed as such and thus opened the doors for comparisons to the 2004 film.
