Mean Girls has been remade into a musical based on the Broadway show of the same name. While it has its moments, most are not original to the film.
Mean Girls (2024) is the latest in the remake craze. Well, it is not officially a remake as it is a musical; most will regard it as one. Mean Girls (2004) was originally based on a book. Then, the film was made into a musical, and Mean Girls (2024) is based on that musical. Tina Faye wrote the film’s screenplay and reprised her role, along with others who reprised their roles from the original. Also, we have some characters who carry over from Broadway. Show like Renée Rapp, who plays Regina George on the stage and in the film.
Mean Girls (2024) follows the same beats as the original 2004 film. It gets to the point where we see some of the same lines delivered, especially the iconic ones. This is a shame because it feels like you could just watch the original and get the same effect without them singing since it is a musical. I think that possibly some could’ve kept in as far as the lines go. But at the same time, it’s basically like watching the same movie. It could’ve almost been written by an AI. It felt like it could’ve just been a copy and paste, but I added a couple of musical numbers.
When Mean Girls (2024) does shine, it’s doing something different from the original, which is the whole point of remaking a movie. The best part is when they add the social media aspect. The original film was made in 2004, before social media took full effect with cell phones, Facebook, texting/facetiming, and more. This was something I thought this film would go all in on. Possibly have it be even one of the centers of the plot.
When it does show social media or people recording videos online, it’s done in a montage. So, we have a scene where something big happens, showing how different people react to the videos they post on social media. This is interesting, and it’s something that we see every day now. But it becomes old soon because it’s all in these montages where it’s so fast that you can barely keep up with what’s happening. There are parts where the screen has maybe 20 people on it at once talking over each other.
Something that might’ve been neat would be to show them texting more on their phones and showing a disconnect between face-to-face interactions and texting. Many Mean Girls (2024) deal with people talking badly behind people’s backs and how that affects friendships. It will be interesting to see a couple of scenes where they’re texting or stalking someone on social media, looking through pictures and someone’s posts. These are ideas that would not be out of character for some of the characters in the film.
There could be a scene where someone gets jealous of another by posting a picture with a guy they like or something similar to what we see nowadays. Or maybe even one of the main characters is a YouTuber or a vlogger, and we see them post vlogs about them every day throughout the film. Like they are Internet-famous. When the social media angle is in effect, it’s just hundreds of people talking at once, and they aren’t characters that we necessarily see a lot of.
So, while I appreciate them, trying to add that this time to be different, it wasn’t executed the best. Side note: an apology video made by Regina George would have been awesome. Then maybe having a YouTuber react to it might also have gotten more eyes on the film than it already has. I know they had a few celebrity cameos, but it is still worth bringing up.
Another good thing I can say about Mean Girls (2024) is the casting. Just about every role is well-cast, and they seem to do their best with the material. The original film is so iconic. It’s pretty hard to replicate it. You can’t change too much without being disrespectful to the original characters. The film is held in such high regard. I’m surprised they even remade it. But it seemed that it was a good idea, as it made plenty of money at the box office, regardless of its reviews.
People are frustrated that it is a musical, as musicals are not the most popular genre, personally, for me. I’m not the biggest fan of musicals. But this film, at least, didn’t have so many that you forgot it was a movie. It did a good job with the set pieces and the cinematography for the singing parts. There’s a lot of intense choreography involved. It is something neat to look at. But it makes me rather watch it in person than on screen.
I think Reneé Rapp shines the most in Mean Girls (2024) as Regina George. Even though she is not our leading actress, people remember this character the most from the original film. Reneé Rapp does a great job with the role, as she also played it on Broadway and is a singer/artist in real life. I believe this will be a stepping stone for her, and she will get more acting parts as time progresses. She had big shoes to fill, for sure, and I feel like she did all she could and all you can do with the remake.
When I was watching the film, I was waiting for the key moments I remembered in the original to happen. It got to the point where I realized that the original one had so many iconic scenes and memorable moments in it. The new film didn’t try to change them or alter them in any way. So, I felt like I could’ve watched the original and gotten more out of it.
Mean Girls (2024) was originally just supposed to be on the Paramount+ streaming app and not in theaters. But after test screenings, it seemed that they wanted to put it in theaters, which was a good choice because it did well. But this won’t sit well with some people, as it is a kind of one-and-done type of movie. You watch it to see a new iteration of a film that you enjoyed, but you are left with just watching a cheaper imitation of it. Mean Girls (2024) does a good job of imitating it and replicating the iconic scenes and lines.
I’m unfamiliar with the musical and haven’t seen it, so there might be something about how it is performed that many people enjoyed and maybe wanted a film version of. I know that there is a strong community out there of people who enjoy musical films and musical theater. I think those who like the original films and musicals will enjoy this. I guess it’s kind of one of those; what if it was a musical-type movie? Like, what if Back to the Future was a musical? Which eventually turned out to be a Broadway musical.
If you liked the original film, I guess it is worth watching because some of the performances stand out and it has a few good funny parts. But don’t expect anything different from the original or anything that’s going to leave a lasting impact. The original Mean Girls is a classic and will live on, and people will forget this one over time. I hope one day they can remake Mean Girls and incorporate more modern ideas into it, as this is a kind of The Breakfast Club of the 2000s type of film. It’s a film that defines a lot of people who grew up in that generation.
