Mean Girls (2024) – Film Review Friday

Welcome back to high school, take a seat at your desk before all the good spots are taken. Just make sure you choose correctly. If you sit next to Nick, be prepared for every class to be an hour-long discussion about soccer. If you sit next to Mandy, your ears will probably hurt from all the singing for the new school musical. If you sit next to Ed, get ready for all that absurd sci-fi nonsense and the big debate over whether Han shot first. Tell you what, how about you sit next to me and I’ll tell you all about the new ‘Mean Girls’ movie?

Tina Fey is back at it again with an adaptation, not a remake, of the musical version of Mean Girls and scores an A+! Trust me when I say, even if you’ve seen the original, there’s still plenty of fun to be had with this version, the songs are so fetch, the new cast have their merits and even after all these years the jokes still hit as hard as it did the first time. Dare I say, with some elements, this new version excels over the original?

In case you’ve seen neither version, Cady Heron is a new student enrolling in high school after spending her entire life in Africa, soon she is inducted into an elite group of popular females who talk smack behind people’s backs, have egos larger than Donald Trump’s and dress as if they just got hired by Coco Chanel. When their leader, Regina George, stands in the way of Cady’s potential romance with Aaron Samuels, the game is on to take the beauty queen down and usurp the throne. Along the way, Cady starts losing herself and becomes everything she’s hated, and soon the chickens come home to roost as she faces the cost of her actions.

Angourie Rice plays Cady this time and while she doesn’t make the character feel as relatable as Lindsay Lohan did, she succeeds at making Cady more nerdy and socially awkward, which I consider a plus. She also lends Cady a touch more naivete at Regina’s friendship, which makes for a more tragic downfall and more satisfying domination. Renee Rapp plays Regina and I have a suspicion that Rachel McAdams made it into her burn book because this Regina is more diabolical, more manipulative and more evil than McAdams could ever try. Her devious smile haunts the entire film like Bloody Mary, it’s never been so painstakingly clear that Regina is here to get what she wants, whatever the cost. Bebe Wood and Avantika play Gretchen and Karen (Regina’s underlings) respectively and they do a passable job, I wouldn’t say they’re better, but they’re a fun alternative.

Some of the song adaptations are masterfully filmed, but unfortunately, there are a few that feel like a chore to sit through. The opening song takes us from Africa to the high school in only a few minutes and personally, I’d rather just cut the song, unless we were going to get more backstory in Africa. The songs ‘Someone Gets Hurt’ and ‘World Burn’ though are filmed with such intensity, it feels like a music video straight from ‘Rage’. There’s a much harsher alienation and betrayal felt in this version, the knife cuts deeper into the back and every lyric feels cathartic. You can hear the pain and sinister joy of each syllable and some of the best moments from the original film are now expanded so we can revel in the childish yet brutal drama unfolding.

Mason’s Top 3 Reasons To Watch Mean Girls (2024)

1. A soundtrack so damn replayable, it’ll be in your Spotify Wrapped for next year
2. A modern retelling that both honours the original and stands on its own
3. A special cameo for all fans of the original version (yes, one of them)

Image Credit: IMDb