A remake of a musical remake of one of the most iconic 2000s movies was inevitably going to be a flop.”Mean Girls” (2024) was released exactly 20 years after the original, which, by its nature, creates a disconnect in the movies considering it is a comedic commentary on high school girls of differing times. While the film was intended to target original fans, it seems to miss the target for any fans, especially the large number of fresh viewers or fans of the Broadway performance.
Most people who view this film are likely already familiar with the plot, whether it be from the musical or the original movie. The sweet and innocent Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who has been homeschooled in Africa her entire life, is catapulted into the mean streets of public high school. She quickly finds friendship in two “art freaks” named Janis (Auliʻi Cravalho) and Damien (Jaquel Spivey), who introduce her to the social hierarchy that takes place in the school. On top are the “Plastics”: Gretchen (Bebe Wood), Karen (Avantika), and the “queen bee” Regina George (Reneé Rapp). Janis and Damien warn Cady about the ruthlessness of the group and tell her to stay away even after she gets a seemingly warm welcome by the popular group. Janis, who was bullied by Regina, uses Cady to carry out her 8th grade revenge until Cady inevitably turns into a “cold, shiny, hard, plastic” herself.
In the 2024 remake, the plot falls extremely flat. It seems that all the screen time originally used for character development has been replaced by cheesy songs that don’t add much to the plot. The song “Revenge Party,” which should be full of angst and anger, is met with fun pastel colors that look straight out of a Jojo Siwa music video. Though in most musicals the songs seem to flow with the movie, “Mean Girls” makes its audience hyper-aware of how unrealistic it is.
In addition to the songs failing the plot, the character depth is severely lacking. Everything feels rushed, especially the characters’ development. In the original, the whole plot revolved around the gradual development of Cady’s personality and her narration, which let the audience see inside the head of the character. Without the narration in the new movie, her development is extremely forced. Not only did Cady feel two-dimensional, but Cady’s mom, Karen, does as well. It seems impossible to make the original Karen any dumber, but somehow the new directors managed to do so and did it horribly. Especially considering none of her lines were remotely funny, Karen had no real purpose besides her one song “Sexy” which ended up being more cringe than significant.
While Avantika did a great job portraying Karen in the song, what really made it not work was the multitude of Tik Toks playing in the background at the beginning of the number. It is always corny when movies reference social media, even moreso Tik Tok, but “Mean Girls” really goes above and beyond with it. While it would seem to make sense to constantly reference the internet, these moments just take you out of the story.
The costume department is one other thing that didn’t exactly feel coherent with the plot. The “Plastics” are supposed to be the most rich and fashionable girls in school–Reginia especially. A principal part of the plot is that she is a trend setter, not a follower. While in this age it can be very hard to keep up with the trends due to how fast things go in and out in social media, it would be key for the costume department to style Regina in more timeless pieces that show off her wealth. The costumes in the film look cheap and similar to micro-trend pieces you could buy off Shein.
The new “Mean Girls” took away everything that made the original such an iconic movie to begin with. Even with mostly the same lines, the delivery felt like the actors were just winking into the camera the whole time. Not even Reneé Rapp’s killer vocals could save the movie from ultimately being a major let-down. If you are a big time “Mean Girls” fan, stick to the original.
