Mean Girls Review – A Nostalgic Reimagining That Falls Short of the Original Spark

Mean Girls is the kind of movie you put on no matter what the occasion is. It has become such a staple of pop culture that people reference it in their everyday lives. Since its release in 2004, it has gone on to have an ill-received film sequel and a Broadway production. The latter has been well-loved by fans of the original and theatre nerds alike. Its popularity put the show on the silver screen and even changed aspects of both the original and Broadway version’s script to fit modern audiences.

Similar to the original, Mean Girls starts with protagonist Cady Heron moving to Illinois from Kenya. At her new high school, North Shore High School, she has trouble fitting in with the other students due to her upbringing. She is immediately befriended by two of the school’s social outcasts, Damien Hubbard and Janis ‘Imi’ike, who show her the ins and outs of the high school’s cliques. Very soon after, she comes face to face with the Plastics, the Gretchen Wieners, the HBIC, Karen Schetty and Regina George, and the plot begins to thicken as Cady is introduced to their mean and invasive Burn Book. Let’s dive into our Mean Girls review.

Mean Girls Modernizes The Original’s Story

The original movie was produced two decades ago when jokes were written very differently. The original Burn Book was filled with borderline slurs and other inappropriate, stereotypical content about girls from their school. Those types of jokes have since changed on a global level, which also means that they were changed in the film to fit a modern audience. Fans will still be happy to hear their favorite one-liners and snippets of dialogue return in all-new ways. One of the biggest changes made, however, was to the characters themselves.

The heritages of the actors for the new Karen Smith, Janis Ian, and Damien Leigh were different from their originals. To better honor the new actors, their last names were changed to better match their heritage. Another change was that Janis being a lesbian is no longer a low-hanging plot joke, but a true fact about the character. These changes were beautifully woven into the film in a way that wasn’t noticeable unless you’re a diehard fan. Even then, it made us realize how the funny parts of the original weren’t the jokes themselves, but how they were delivered.

Music and Choreography

Since the new Mean Girls is an adaptation of the Broadway play, there is plenty of singing and dancing to go around. Renee Rapp, the actress for Regina George, is the only cast member in the film to have portrayed their character in the stage version. As a result, her portrayal seemed to be the only one with life. Cady’s actress, Angourie Rice, did a great job too, however, her portrayal seemed to fall flat against the rest of the cast. Although true to her character, she didn’t have any momentous songs or dance numbers that stood out in comparison to characters like Janis or even Karen.

The choreography for each song was well done and even helped fill out some of the scenes that were left out of the original. Because teenagers don’t hang out at malls anymore, Cady’s vision of the teenagers in the mall fighting like wild animals didn’t make it into this film. The fighting still made it into the choreography for some numbers and helped subtly give the audience a look into how Cady perceives things. Even some of the story was told directly through the choreography, like the house party that Cady throws towards the film’s climax.

Get In Loser

The new Mean Girls is still as fun as the original but won’t be as memorable two decades down the road. While the new version of the film does everything right to adhere to a new audience, chances are you’ll either just watch the original or find the Broadway version.

All in all, you’ll have a great time if you enjoy musicals and the original Mean Girls. The songs were all catchy and we had a great time picking apart the differences between all three versions. We also feel like it would be wrong not to mention how Meet the Plastics has been on repeat in our car since the film’s version came out. You can see Mean Girls in theaters now.