Summary

The 2024 Mean Girls musical lacks the bite and incisiveness of the original film, resulting in a sanded-down version. The cast, including Renee Rapp as Regina George, does their best to justify the movie’s existence, but ultimately, the film falters under its own reputation. Despite talented cast members and musical moments, the movie feels like a diluted fever dream with scattered musical sequences. It fails to update or justify its existence, appearing more like a product of an industry eager for box office success than a passionate adaptation.

One of the tag lines for the unfortunate new Mean Girls musical is “This isn’t your mother’s Mean Girls” and they’re most certainly right. By now, almost everyone knows the story of the hit 2004 film: Homeschooled jungle freak Cady Heron moves from Kenya to the Midwest, enrolls at North Shore High School, and faces the insurmountable task of adapting to a wild new challenge — being a teenager. Pulled between the Plastics and her new friends Janice and Damian, Cady mounts a plan to take down Regina George, make Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels fall in love with her, and become the girl she was always meant to be.

That’s also exactly how 2024’s Mean Girls plays out. Besides the addition of dance numbers, this new version is the same as the old one — with a lot less bite. Produced by Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels, with Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. behind the camera, Mean Girls is an unfortunate retread of the original movie. There isn’t anything new here save for the cast and the various and oftentimes baffling musical numbers. The cast does their best to justify the movie’s existence and Renee Rapp is formidable as the singing and dancing Regina George, but the movie ultimately falters under its own reputation.

Mean Girls Isn’t Mean Enough

Despite being meme’d to death, the original Mean Girls still stands as an incisive and brutal look at high school politics before the advent of Instagram and Snapchat. Even when some see it as a sore spot of Millennial culture, it’s hard to deny that Regina George will be remembered as one of the greatest high school movie villains of all time. In trying to recapture that magic, though, 2024’s Mean Girls falls short and feels like a sanded-down version of the original film.

It’s less a trip down memory lane and more of a diluted fever dream with musical sequences scattered throughout.

The film falls prey to the same issue faced by the ill-fated Gossip Girl reboot: It just isn’t mean enough. Old insults aren’t traded for new ones — quite often, the same jokes are told, but they’re re-worded to be less offensive. It’s less a trip down memory lane and more of a diluted fever dream with musical sequences scattered throughout.

Mean Girls’ Musical Moments & Great Cast Can’t Save The Movie
Renee Rapp in Mean Girls. 

Mean Girls boasts an array of talent in front of the camera. Rising star Rapp is coming off a star-making turn in The Sex Lives of College Girls and a well-received debut album. As Regina, she lacks the flippant cruelty that Rachel McAdams sold so well, but she’s still more than formidable as North Shore’s resident Queen Bee. Auliʻi Cravalho, best known as the voice of Moana, brings new life to Janice — it’s a softer version of the character, cleansed of the bitterness brought to the role by Lizzy Caplan. The breakout star of Mean Girls is Avantika, who takes over the role of Karen from Amanda Seyfried. She gets the best musical number, set during Aaron Samuels’ ill-fated Halloween party, and her version of Karen gets the most laughs in the movie.

Related Where To Watch Mean Girls 2024: Showtimes & Streaming Status The 2024 musical adaptation of Mean Girls puts a new spin on a familiar story, and there are options regarding where to watch Mean Girls 2024.

It’s a shame that the cast is wasted on what ends up being a regurgitation of the original movie. The musical numbers opt for close-ups and claustrophobic blocking instead of sweeping wide angles. For a movie that’s supposed to be an updated take on a classic, there’s little updating here and, ultimately, Mean Girls doesn’t justify its existence. It feels more like a product of an industry eager to milk any IP for potential box office success rather than any sort of passion for the source material.

Mean Girls (2024) Mean Girls is a reimagining of the 2004 classic comedy film as a musical, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. When Cady Heron and her family move from Africa to the United States; she experiences a culture shock when she enters the public school system for the first time. While trying to fit in, she is roped into the popular but superficial and cruel clique, the Plastics. Release Date January 12, 2024 Director Samantha Jayne , Arturo Perez Jr. Cast Angourie Rice , Auli’i Cravalho , Jaquel Spivey , Reneé Rapp , Jon Hamm , Ashley Park , Jenna Fischer , Tina Fey , Tim Meadows Writers Nell Benjamin , Tina Fey Story By Tina Fey Studio(s) Broadway Video , Little Stranger , Paramount Pictures , Paramount Players Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures