Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“How far would you go to be popular and hot? Would you resist temptation? No, you would not! Just admit it, sometimes Mean is what you are, Mean is easier than nice.” – lyrics from the opening song of “Mean Girls” (2024)
It’s been ages since I last saw the 2004 “Mean Girls” movie starring Lindsay Lohan, and a musical version two decades later was just the right kind of twist the high-school drama needed. Inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s novel “Queen Bees and Wannabes”, the 2024 “Mean Girls” too has been written by Tina Fey, and stars Reneé Rapp as Regina George. Trivia – Reneé Rapp made her Broadway debut in 2019 as Regina George in the movie’s stage musical adaptation. Why the movie makers simply went with her for the film too is easy to see – she oozes the sass, arrogance, screen presence, and ‘mean girl’ vibe needed of Regina George. Besides, she’s got a great singing voice.
Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., “Mean Girls” opens with a catchy intro song titled “Cautionary Tale,” sung by artsy BFFs Janis ‘Imi’ike (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), about the perils of being mean. Angourie Rice plays protagonist Cady Heron, the new girl in high school who was home-schooled by her mother (Jenna Fischer) in Kenya and catches the attention of the Plastics, an exclusive clique of three popular girls led by Regina George. The other two Plastics are Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood), who has the tea on everybody, and Karen Shetty (Avantika), described as “the dumbest person you’ll ever meet.” Cady gets pretty cozy with the Plastics and even seems to like them until she develops a huge crush on Regina’s ex, Aaron (Christopher Briney), setting the stage for rivalry with Regina.
Angourie Rice looks bored out of her wits as Cady in the film; she lends no personality to the character and makes you wish Gretchen and Karen had more scenes. Reneé Rapp as Regina, overshadows her in each scene, even when her character is down in the dumps. For me, Lindsay Lohan’s Cady was without doubt the protagonist of the 2004 “Mean Girls”, but this one is all about Regina George’s dominance, even though she is a bossy, intimidating, overbearing, cheating, unapologetic bitch. Although, all the outfits Regina wears through the film are forgettable, and barely fashionable. Christopher Briney (he played the lead in The Summer I Turned Pretty) is kinda forgettable as Cady’s crush Aaron, by the second-half you won’t even remember he is the trigger for the feud between Cady and Regina.
Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey are both feisty, and spunky as the art kids who first befriend Cady and guide her through school. Despite just one song in “Mean Girls,” Avantika as Karen is the most hilarious character in the musical. It was fun to see the Indian kid getting to play the popular, beautiful, dumb one for a change, instead of the usual awkward nerd. Whoever cast Busy Philipps as Regina’s mother should get a raise. For a second, I thought she was maybe Reneé Rapp’s real mom (she isn’t); the similarity is uncannily good. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows play Ms. Norbury and Mr. Duvall, teachers at the high school, the same characters they played in the 2004 movie.
Since this “Mean Girls” is a musical, its songs are a mix of hits and misses. Apart from the opening track, the song “Apex Predator,” performed by Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey, is a groovy number. However, its choreography was too literal and over-the-top—the actors dance around like animals, making the song sequence look like an absurd workshop from a drama school. Karen Shetty’s one song titled “Sexy,” about how every day should be Halloween, was entertainingly shot like a live TikTok video where she keeps changing outfits. The screen soon fills up with other TikTokers recreating her song, with their screens displaying “Sexy @KarenShetty” at the bottom.
Some of the songs in the second half feel ill-timed, with actors breaking into song when you’d rather see more of the drama. For instance, like the original “Mean Girls” movie, one of the primary conflicts centers around the infamous “Burn Book,” a scrapbook where the Plastics write down horrid things about the girls they hate. There’s uproar over this “Burn Book,” and teachers are forced to intervene, making all the girls participate in an exercise where they confess and apologize for a misdemeanor they aren’t proud of. As things get interesting, a character breaks into a song when most of us would rather see more of those confessions about mean deeds!
The climax is predictable and cutesy, where “Plastics and Math nerds” party together, and BFFs Imi and Damian leave viewers with a familiar message: don’t be a mean girl. In different words. “Mean Girls” could’ve been shorter, but for those who are up for a fun, Gen-Z version of the old movie, this musical is an entertaining one-time watch.
You can stream “Mean Girls” on Prime Video.
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