Mean Girls (2024) Review

I'm sure you've heard by now that the cult classic Mean Girls has a musical remake in theatres. Mean Girls + Musical, seems like a good idea right? Well, I like to think it could have been, had the studio executed it better.

Unfortunately, we've been here before. In 2011, Paramount Studios attempted to create a sequel to the iconic 2004 film, written by the brilliant Tina Fey. Suffice to say, it was poorly received, and justifiably so. It kept its namesake and the basic structure, but it delivered a stereotypical mess of cheesy dialogue and bad acting.

Fast forward to 2024, and we have been gifted a musical version of the beloved noughties teen comedy. For the record, I have never seen the musical performed on stage, so I can’t speak to its reception or popularity, but I can only imagine that it has to be better than the film adaptation - because it is no gift.

The film’s script is almost a carbon copy of the original, with some modernised adjustments, updated pop culture references, and - of course - musical numbers. Other than the actors butchering the delivery of Mean Girls' most iconic lines, what could have saved the film was great music. But alas, this was not the case. The songs were boring, in no way catchy, and not at all memorable. The only song I remember is ‘Apex Predator’, which I had higher hopes for. If I’m being brutally honest, watching it felt like students trying to recreate the film.

The one silver lining to the music was well-cast singers. There were a lot of strong singing voices in this cast ensemble, particularly Reneé Rapp and Auliʻi Cravalho, playing Regina George and Janis 'Imi'ike (Janice Ian). Both of them, subsequently, were also the strongest acting performances in the film.

Talking of silver linings, we got to see some familiar faces, including Tina Fey as Miss Norbury and Tim Meadows as Principle Duvall (who are revealed to be a couple in the gymnasium scene after the riot breaks out). And no sequel/prequel/remake would be complete without a cameo appearance from the original Cady herself, Lindsay Lohan.

However, I’m not sure the film works on a cultural level. The original was made in the early noughties when calling someone gay was still used as an insult, when magazines were still brainwashing us to believe that if you weren’t stick thin, then you were fat, and if you slept around, you weren’t a ‘player’ or ‘adventurous’, you were a slut. Our world, luckily, has evolved since then. Sure, there will always be hateful people who will judge, but because of cancel culture that kind of bullying has decreased significantly. So, by releasing an almost identical film now, the cultural significance of the script falls flat.

I thought I was perhaps in the minority until I looked up some critical responses to the musical: David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter wrote,

"All the effervescence and fun have been drained out of the material in this labored reincarnation, a movie musical made by people who appear to have zero understanding of movie-musical vernacular"

Tom Gliatto at People wrote,

"The musical numbers are mostly bright, brash and frequently awful. The songs just keep coming at you, noisily whirring with speed and determined to make maximum impact”

And Valerie Complex at Deadline Hollywood, who I think sums it up pretty perfectly, wrote,

"The film struggles to justify its existence beyond surface-level changes and ultimately falters in delivering a coherent, impactful story that offers little new or compelling".

As someone who loves Mean Girls and musicals, I really wanted to like this film. However, when watching it, all I really wanted was to leave the theatre.