This article contains spoilers.
Her name is Regina George, she’s a massive deal, and she’s back on the big screen.
Straight from the mind of Tina Fey, “Mean Girls,” a 2000s cultural staple, has made its way back to theaters—but this time as a modern adaptation of the Broadway musical recreation of the original 2004 film. Screenplay writer and producer Tina Fey returns to North Shore High to reprise her role as Mrs. Norbury, along with Tim Meadows returning to his role as Principal Duvall.
The rest of the cast presents their takes on the Broadway/movie roles, notably with Reneé Rapp as Regina George, who had played the role on Broadway during the musical’s 2020 run. She is a hugely popular recording artist and her casting drove fans to see her on screen.
The difference between the original film and the new adaptation is that the latter is a musical adaptation. This causes the film to deviate from the original “Mean Girls” to meet the goal of adding in the musical elements.
One major shortcoming of the film was the musical performance of Angourie Rice, who plays Cady Heron. Her singing ability did not match the performance power of Reneé Rapp and did not do the Broadway-style songs justice. Thus, I felt Cady’s character did not live up to Lindsey Lohan’s performance in the original. Lohan made Cady a force for the plot, while Rice was overshadowed by Rapp as Regina.
The film works to translate the core story of female friendship dynamics through 20 years of cultural progression. One well done aspect of that translation was incorporating social media, which wasn’t as central to teenage life at the time of the original film. Using it to spread the messages from the “burn book” rather than how Regina printed out all the pages in the original was just one example of social media serving the movie’s plot, rather than appearing awkward or out of place.
Another change from the original movie is that characters with LGBTQ identities are openly queer. Janice and Damian, played by Auli’i Cravalho and Jacquel Spivery, interact with other characters and have fully fleshed-out personalities. Their identities still play a part in the film, but they are not defined by it as they were in the original. Janice took on a prominent role in driving the film forward, almost as much as (if not more than) Cady’s character, and Cravalho was one of the film’s standout performances.
Unfortunately, the 2024 adaptation movie cannot seem to find its audience. The original film was meant for the overall teen girl demographic. While the adaptation still caters to that audience, the musical aspect left something to be desired for those who are die-hard fans of the Broadway version. The changes in the music and song choices may leave fans of the musical with a more critical view of the film than those who have not.
The Mean Girls reboot had two distinct goals: to adapt the musical and to recreate the movie for a modern audience. They fell slightly short in both. There was so much ground to cover for one film that the musical elements were shifted enough to make it a less faithful adaptation than it had likely hoped to be. It was well-adapted for a new, younger audience, but at the cost of the musical being secondary despite some outstanding performances.
And, even after twenty years, Gretchen won’t stop trying to make “fetch” happen. It isn’t going to happen.
