Words like remake or reboot tend to be “scary” words when attached to any new film projects today. These words further the idea that popular projects need to be revamped to better fit the times or to connect to a brand new audience. In the last decade there has been a rarity of remakes/reboots, not even necessarily living up to their originals but, displaying their need to exist for a new generation.
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The original Mean Girls film that was released in 2004 has become a cultural phenomenon that will remain in the cinematic canon for decades to come. This new twist from Tina Fey is a combination of the original film, the Broadway musical that was cancelled due to the pandemic, and current material for the younger generation. If that already sounds exhausting then welcome to 2024’s iteration of Mean Girls, a film that feels the need to do way too much rather than finding the true heart of the story we all know and love.
Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) moves from Kenya to Illinois, attending North Shore High School. Upon trying to find her place she gets taken under the wing of outcasts Janice (Auliʻi Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) that warn her against the Queen Bees of the school, The Plastics, comprising of Karen Shetty (Avantika), Gretchen Weiners (Bebe Wood), and of course Regina George (Reneé Rapp). When Regina takes interest in Cady, Cady pretends to be part of The Plastics with the intent of following Janice’s plan to ruin Regina George’s life in the process.
Mean Girls at its core is a musical, an element that the marketing team of the film made sure to hide upon the release of the film, which was already a terrible sign. However, the idea of it being a musical gave it an advantage, the ability to not be compared to the original because of its blatantly unique difference. Sadly to say, the musical numbers in the movie feel completely out of place compared to its teen-comedy script.
The film felt like two mediums being pushed together against their will. The film’s script is tonally mismatched from the Broadway stage sounding music. The script from Tina Fey feels sassy and modern whereas the music sounds like theatrical Broadway show tunes and it becomes apparent no character in the movie would listen to the music they are singing. Aside from two songs, ‘Sexy’ and ‘I’d Rather Be Me’ that have a more pop sound and fit better with the film, it should have opted to revamp the soundtrack for a more pop sound or dropped the Broadway element entirely.
The biggest problem with Mean Girls is it spends so much time trying to incorporate most of the beloved quotes and scenes from the 2004 original that it didn’t develop any meaningful connections or relationships between the characters. The chemistry between the four Plastics are non-existent, particularly because of their lack of scenes all together, most evidently between Regina and Cady.
The film plays by the same chords as the original but fails to develop the characters in a way that displays what it is telling the audience. Regina apparently has a massive hold on everyone at the school, yet nobody is ever seen fawning over her, trying to be her, or trying to talk to her. Cady’s new friendship with Regina is supposed to be the driving force behind why Regina trusts her new “advice.” Yet the two of them barely have moments together that develop this relationship.
At the core of the story of Mean Girls is the pain and anguish that teen girls inflict on one another because of a system that pits them against each other. It is about how although these girls feel they need to be in competition with one another, their real power is the ability to stand together to create real change. Tina Fey’s 2024 adaptation fails to even remotely incorporate these themes or even develop some of its own.
Finally, Mean Girls felt like it never took a breath to sit with any moments, pieces of dialogue, or character arcs. It felt like a giant means to an end that never celebrated its uniqueness or charm it could have had. The best way to describe the movie would be a black and white storyboard of scenes and lines without filling any of it in with creative flair or color.
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What plagues so many remakes and reboots today is the seeming importance of adding in everything people want to see without maintaining the essence of what the audience wants to feel. The movie feels like cold hard plastic with a hollow finish. Its constant go, go, go attitude without stopping to see what really lies beneath is contradictory to the entire idea of Mean Girls. All in all, the movie is a tonal mess that needs to be sent to the back building that burned down in 1987.
Follow Steph (the Author) on IG – @cinemasteph_7
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