My Review of Mean Girls (2024)

 

Written by Tina Fey

Directed by Samantha Jayne And Arturo Perez Jr

Regina: "My name is Regina George and I am a massive deal. Fear me, love, stand and stare at me."

Last month, I went back and rewatched/reviewed the original movie and now that I've had the time to catch up, it was time for me to watch this musical remake. I'm not gonna lie, it doesn't surpass the original but there's a lot of fun to be had with nevertheless.

Going over familiar territory, we've got Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) who with her mother (Jenna Fischer) traded in Kenya for Northshore and it's not long before everything felt familiar but that little bit different. Given that it's a musical, why not, right?

Cady quickly befriended fellow outcasts Janis 'Imi'ike (Auli'i Cravahlo) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), developed a crush on popular school boy Aaron (Christopher Briney) and of course, there was the Plastics. Yes, the reason the original movie was so iconic in the first place.

You've got Regina George (Reneé Rapp) and her minions Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood) and Karen Shetty (Avantika) and yet again, Cady went from befriendin them, scheming against them to becoming a tad worse than them. Like I said, it's familiar territory but being a musical certainly made things a little different.

Given how iconic the roles were for certain actors, I will give the cast here props. All of them are well cast in their respective roles with particular shoutouts to the likes of Reneé Rapp and Avantika really bringing a new energy to Regina and Karen.

However to keep things familiar, both Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their roles as Ms. Norbury and Mr. Duvall while there's fun performances from both Busy Philipps and Jon Hamm as Regina's mother and Coach Carr respectively. 

- Lindsay Lohan appeared briefly as a moderator at the Mathletes competition while Ashley Park appeared as French teacher, Madame Park. She played Gretchen in the stage version.

- Originally this was slated for just a release on Paramount+ before getting a theatrical release. 

- In this version, it's made clear that Janis actually is a lesbian, even getting a spring formal date as well. 

- At one point in the movie, both Janis and Damian are watching Friday The 13th Part 2.

- Standout music: A lot of highlights but Cautionary Tale, Meet The Plastics, Apex Predator, Revenge Party, World Burn and Not My Fault.

- Chronology: It's definitely been updated for 2024.

Mean Girls (2024) might not quite hit as big as the original but it's a pretty entertaining update on a classic movie. The roles are well cast for a second time, the musical numbers are great and there's plenty of fun to be had. Plastic can be fantastic second time around.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Mean Girls (2004)

 

Written by Tina Fey

Directed by Mark Waters

Regina (to Cady): "Get in loser, we're going shopping."

With the musical remake heading into theatres this weekend, I thought it was time to go back and watch the original again. It's been twenty years since it's release and this has aged well as a movie.

Anyways, the premise for this highschool outing was simple enough. You had protagonist Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), a homeschooled girl who used to live in Africa but now was attending an American highschool and it quickly became a culture shock for her.

Within the first half of the movie, not only was she the smartest girl in Ms. Norbury's (Tina Fey) maths class but she also managed to befriend outcasts Janis Ian (Lizzy Kaplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) and through them, she was also introduced to the Plastics. Yes, the girls who made up the title of this movie.

Let's talk about the Plastics, shall we? You've got the worker bees - the rich and insecure Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chaberts) as well as the sweet but dimwitted Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). As characters, both are fun but very easily manipulated. Then there's the Queen Bee herself, Regina George (Rachel McAdams), who let's be honest remains the best character in this movie, no matter how many times you watch it.

Yes, she's a stereotypical highschool bitch and one that McAdams played to perfection. Belittling her minions, spreading rumours about former friends, taking back her ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) just to spite Cady. Needless to say, Cady along with Janis and Damian plotted Regina's downfall with a series of disastrous events.

As the movie progressed the lines between Regina and Cady began to blur with the latter becoming too much alike the former and eventually losing the run of herself. It's an interesting turn of events when Regina's "Burn Book" caused anarchy in the school with a lot of lessons learned.

As the movie headed towards it's conclusion, the Plastics were disbanded, Cady got the guy and her friends group back and even Regina got a healthier means to channel her aggression. All in all, it's a movie with plenty of mean moments along with rather sweet ones as highschool really can be a jungle. 

- This movie was based on the book, Queen Bees And Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.

- Some nice supporting roles For Amy Poehler as Regina's mother and Tim Meadows, the school principal.

- Standout music: Jingle Bell Rock as well as Missy Elliott's Pass That Dutch.

- Chronology: The movie takes place over a school year, incorporating Halloween, Christmas and a Spring Fling Dance/Mathletes Competition.

Mean Girls remains a delight. It's aged well, it's outrageously funny and has some brilliant performances from everyone involved. It's also a reasonably length and the one liners remain quotable to this day.

Rating: 9 out of 10