Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school, when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
“Mean Girls” is one of the pinnacle movies of the 2000s. I grew up with that film and think it is iconic. The cast and writing are top-notch in the original, but unfortunately, I don’t think this remake holds up.
The plot is the same. Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is a teenager who moves from Africa to Northshore High School. She was homeschooled, so she is uneducated in the high school hierarchy. She befriends Janis (Auli’I Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), who take her under their wing. Together, they scheme to get Cady into the most popular clique, The Plastics, to take down queen bee Regina George (Renee Rap).
Though the trailers of this film are trying to hide this fact, this film is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the original movie. If you’re not a fan of musicals, then you probably want to sit this one out.
I enjoy musicals; however, I was disappointed with this film. The songs did not stand out. I don’t think the songs are bad, but they are not memorable. I think the execution of these musical moments was also very bland at times. I would say the Regina Halloween and colorful hallway sequences were the best ones done.
The fashion is also not continuously updated to fit today’s style. Some outfits are the same ones seen in the original film.
I was most disappointed that most of the dialogue was the same as the original film. On one hand, I understand that there are many quotable lines in the original movie, but it also makes this film feel like a duplicate.
Janis and Regina are the standouts of this film. Both actresses have lovely singing voices. This adaptation has more to Janis, and I like her various eyeliner looks. Damian was also enjoyable. His character is the same for the most part, but still fun. Rapp is perfectly condescending, intimidating, and beautiful as Regina.
I will also say that I think that Regina is less mean in this version. Rapp makes her intimidating, but I only remember Regina being mean to Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and her beau, Jason (John El-Jor), before discovering Cady’s plot.
I also found Cady (Angourie Rice) to be lacking. Lindsay Lohan is more genuine with her naiveté in the original film. Rice fell short in this respect, though she did shine more when she became fully plastic.
Overall, I found this musical adaptation to be unnecessary. It did have its moments, but I still vastly prefer the original film. Like most remakes, it wants to capitalize on the audience’s nostalgia and love for the original but doesn’t put in enough effort to make it stand out. I would say the only differences really between the films are the songs. And while I never saw the Broadway show, many have enjoyed it. I feel like filming a showing of the Broadway musical would have been more enjoyable than this musical remake.
In Theaters Friday, January 12th
