I went into this movie expecting it to be bad. I felt like I had only heard and seen bad things about it, so I kept my expectations low. But I don’t know what people are on about, I liked this movie! Everyone just hates fun these days. Not every movie has to be Oscar-worthy to be enjoyable. It’s winter. It’s cold. It’s dark. We deserve to go to the movies and watch something fun and colorful and silly that makes us smile and then get on with our lives. 

Most of the people who did not like this movie fall into three groups: people who did not know this was a musical, people who are too attached to the stage musical, and people who are too attached to the original movie. Let’s start with group 1: musical-haters. This one I get. If you don’t like musicals, you will not like this movie. There’s been a lot of talk about how they intentionally did not market this movie as a musical because musicals typically don’t perform as well. But I don’t think tricking people into seeing it by hiding the fact that it’s a musical is the solution to that problem. Yeah maybe most people don’t really like musicals but you know what they also don’t like? False advertising.

Group 2: musical-lovers. I never saw this production when it was originally on Broadway. That is because people that saw it at the time said it was not good so I never felt the need to see it (the story is obviously basically the same but mostly just the songs weren’t that good). That meant that going into this movie, I did not know anything about the production and had never heard any of the songs. It turns out that may have been to my benefit. It seems like many people online who are huge fans of the original Broadway production are very attached to it and are upset about changes the movie makes. These changes include songs that were cut or added but, also, many fans feel like the performers in the movie don’t bring the same level of energy or vocal skill to the songs that the Broadway performers did onstage or on the cast recording. I have nothing to compare it to so none of that bothered me. I thought everyone did a great job and the songs weren’t even as bad as they had been made out to be. They weren’t amazing but they were entertaining and catchy and the fully produced numbers in the movie were fun.

Finally, group 3: OG worshippers. I will admit that I fall into this group. The original 2004 movie Mean Girls is a sacred text. BUT. I don’t think the existence of this new movie diminishes the original in any way. It doesn’t add to it either but who cares? They can exist separately and be judged on their own merits. The new version did feel like a mostly different movie to me. Even though I know the plot, I didn’t know any of the songs so there were still surprises and some details were changed throughout. The tone of this version is different. I don’t know if it is just the fact that it’s a musical that makes it all inherently more “Disney channel-ish”, but it all comes across way more earnest and pure than the 2004 version which has a much nastier edge. Even though some of the dialogue in the musical version is still biting, the edge just isn’t there. I thought Angourie Rice did a fine job playing Cady, but she’s a little too doe-eyed to pull off the evil turn the character takes the same way Lindsay Lohan could. The whole movie just has a brighter, glossier vibe than its predecessor, whether that is intentional or not.

Comparing this movie to the original is almost pointless. Of course it’s not the original. It never could be. I don’t even really think it’s trying to be. And I don’t think it should try. I actually felt like the moments that worked the least were when the dialogue was word for word the same as the original movie (or even worse, one word different. Because why change it? I guess sometimes to fit the rhyme of a song, but it was glaringly noticeable). I think most of my generation has the original movie memorized. And not just the exact dialogue, but the exact cadence and intonation of how it’s said in that film. Hearing the same words in a different voice and different speech pattern is just weird and uncanny. It took me out of the movie. That’s where it starts to feel like a strange recreation or parody. And what made me most want to come home afterwards and watch the original. 

Maybe the biggest reason that you should watch this movie: Reneé Rapp. You may have heard her name by now or you may not have but, either way, you will. She is a star. She started on Broadway and played Regina George in “Mean Girls” there before getting into acting on screen and is now pursuing a pop music career. Not only does she have one of the most insane voices I have ever heard in my entire life (seriously if you haven’t seen it yet, go watch her performance of “Snow Angel” on SNL a few weeks ago and try to explain to me how that is humanly possible), but she has a truly electric personality. The “Reneé Rapp press tour” for Mean Girls has been a popular topic of conversation on the internet because she is loud and funny and says whatever she wants. She is unpredictable and authentic in a captivating way. When she’s on screen in character or as herself, you just know that is someone to keep your eye on. In Mean Girls, she radiates off the screen and steals the whole show. I wanted more of her in the movie. You could feel her absence when she wasn’t there. I know she’s doing her popstar thing now and has said that acting was never really the plan, but I think she’s fantastic and I would love to see more from her as her star continues to rise.

The rest of the cast was also good, but no one stood out the way Reneé does. Auliʻi Cravalho did a great job as Janis and Avantika (who was not yet born when the original movie came out in 2004. Just throwing that in there because if I have to know that and feel old, then you should too) is also getting a lot of recognition for her performance as Karen. I mostly liked it but did feel it was a little over the top at times. Many people seemed to have issues with Christopher Briney as Aaron Samuels and I’m not really sure why (what’s not to like? He’s a cutie!), but he’s honestly barely in the movie anyway. If you watched The Summer I Turned Pretty, you already know him (and love him) as Conrad. But, if not, I don’t think this performance will do anything to win you over. It’s not bad but just not anything special.
This movie was initially made for streaming (on Paramount+) but later switched to a theatrical release. The switch likely came after the massive success of Barbie over the summer. Industry executives realized that maybe women would go see movies made by women, about women, for women. Crazy concept, right? Even though this movie has its many detractors, I thought it was a fun and entertaining time and I really enjoyed it. And more importantly, I hope we continue to see major movies created and marketed for female audiences.

2024 Count: 3 seasons, 6 movies