Directed By Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr

Starring – Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp, Tina Fey

The Plot – Cady Heron (Rice) is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called “The Plastics,” ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George (Rapp) and her minions Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and Karen (Avantika). However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.

Rated PG-13 for sexual material, strong adult language, and teen drinking.

Mean Girls | Official Trailer (2024 Movie) (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Twenty years between films might not seem like proper justification in conjuring a spirited re-imagining, but the 2024 version of “Mean Girls” goes the route of 2023’s “The Color Purple”, in that it directly lifts the stage musical for a silver screen engagement that is every bit infectious as it sincerely charming. In terms of contemporary remakes, this is everything you could ask and more, with faithful dedication to the elements of the 2004 film that still hit as effectively hilarious as they ever did, but also with hopeful ambition while this version of the film now persists under a 2024 social landscape, complete with advanced technology and mob mentalities of social media that make the rumor mill warfare of the Plastics come across as vitriolic as ever. As expected, Jayne and Perez do a remarkable job of bringing to life the ins and outs of Northshore High School once more, vividly articulating the anxieties and awkwardness of high school interactions with the shallow insecurities of teenage ideals, which when combined with the eclectic and topical depth of such a brilliant soundtrack, breathes new life into an ages old formula that many previous adolescents can now appreciate as grown adults of society. The musical numbers themselves are lyrically and musically invigorating, with ample opportunity for everyone within this dazzling ensemble to shine during their respective numbers. The tracks themselves never feel like they’re repetitive or even tonally flat when compared with one another, and as to where most musicals conjure their transitions with forcefully spontaneous arrivals, the switches here feel appropriate with timing and cadence that each play a vital role in the themes of the tracks that follow them. While I myself am not a musical fan, but find myself impressed by one every few years or so, “Mean Girls” is that rarity where I not only enjoyed every single track within the film’s entirety, but also one where I find myself frequently revisiting after purchasing the soundtrack, only minutes after exiting the theater. Jayne and Perez also collaborate on a refreshing style that simulataneously compliments the musical numbers with radiant imagery, as well as the personality of the film’s humor, which is entirely self-aware and intentionally exaggerated to bring to life the lunacy of high school attitudes. Whether in slick camera movements that weave in and out of pageantry of the spectacle, abrupt editing that continuously feels in on the punchlines of the jokes that they paste between scenes, or the humor itself, with remarkable levels of effectiveness on its own, this duo clearly idolized and appreciated its iconic predecessor. The cinematography appropriately deviates between still frame and handheld during the right moments of exhillarance within Cady’s journey to the top, with imagery among social media apps that helps to visualize the conflicts within the expansion of time that 107 minutes of screen time can’t always capably cover, and the humor creatively pushes the envelope as far as PG-13 can possibly go, embracing all of the juvenille and immaturity with the widest arms, which pay off in an engagement with no shortage of laughs within it. As for the fresh-faced cast, everyone assembled is perfect for their respective roles, especially with the entirety of them elicitng musical talents that allow them to do their own singing. Rice, like Lindsay Lohan before her, nails the naiveties of Cady’s fish out of water perspective, with overwhelming vulnerabilities that allow her to be taken advantage of, but especially Cady’s second half transformation, which make her feel like the toxic manifestation of everything wrong with teenage indulgence. Rice is good in ways that distinguish her from Lohan, but Renee Rapp’s Regina George, and Auli’i Cravalho’s Janis are the primary show-stealers here, with three-dimensional charisma and superstar appeal for musical sequences that make them irresistible to look away from. Rapp’s George perfectly conjures the intimidation factors of Regina’s stranglehold over the school, with devilishly dissecting dialogue that plays chess when everyone else is playing checkers, and “Moana’s” Cravalho brings rage and intensity to Janis in ways that was only hinted at during the first film, all with her impeccable vocal range that leads to some energetically uplifting messages to youthful females of the audience dealing with their internal insecurities. Aside from the fresh faces, the returns of Tina Fey and Tim Meadows are a warm touch and nod to the irreplacable impacts that they gave to the original, and with some evolving directions in the avenues of explorations within their characters, leads to some developments between them that I think longtime fans are really going to appreciate with sincerity and sentimentality that surrounds their appearances.

NEGATIVES

While most aspects of this remake measure up or even succeed their iconic predecessor, one thing that is unfortunately sacrificed in this version is characterization, especially for supporting characters, which leaves them feeling a bit emotionally thin and one-dimensional when compared to original portrayals and explorations that appraised value to their respective importance to the film. This is felt the loudest in both Gretchen and Karen, who while being given limitless energy and personality from Bebe Wood and Avantika, who make the most of their respective opportunities, can’t overcome the lack of focus and commitment to their characters that the script can’t capably evade. Part of me understands this hinderance as being a casualty of the addition of 23 new musical numbers to the occasion, but considering backstory and merit were given to other characters during their musical numbers, the singular direction here of two girls being nothing but airheads seems a bit unfair, especially since they both carried depth with them during the first film that highlighted them as so much more than just being Regina’s cronies. This leads to my second issue with the film, as the direction supplanted to Avantika’s performance feels a bit distracting when compared to those around her, creating a gimmick that gets old at the fifteen minute mark of the film’s run time. As previously conveyed, Avantika is giving her all to the portrayal, but simply can’t do it alone, and while the film persists in this self-aware bubble where everything and everyone feel exaggerated, Karen is the only character who lacks any semblance of humanity, instead feeling like an android of sorts who runs on bubble gum and Red Bull. I get that the design of her character is that she’s a helpless moron, but the effective consistency of the humor isn’t any better for it, as once you know everything there is to know about her delivery, you see her various punchlines coming from miles away. Finally, while “Mean Girls” is the first and therefore best comedy of the year thus far to beat, with what I can safely say is an 80% landing rate for the entirety of the material, the dependency on humor does occasionally take away from the script’s few dramatic arcs, primarily at the beginning of the third act. This was something that I greatly appreciated from the 2004 original, as it proved the film to be so much more than just an abrasive delve into the MTV generation, but here those tender moments of reflection are rarely utilized with enough time and confidence within the direction to maintain their dramatic emphasis, leaving the hyperactive resiliency of the humor to define the nuanced moments of heart and compassion that the film needs so badly to ground it in the right places. The third act climax does involve the same kind of personal reflections and confrontations that are a huge part of the original movie, but here rushed along forcefully in ways that smother them, leaving its dedication to comedy a bit overzealous during moments that undercut the movie’s emotional variance.

OVERALL
“Mean Girls” is the rare January gem that just so happens to also be a spectacular remake of an iconic original. With infectiously energetic musical numbers by the dozens, refreshing originality in a presentation that unearths the toxicity of social media manipulation, and of course a cheerfully rich and remarkably versatile ensemble, this is one successor that is totally fetch in maintaining the reputation of its predecessor, confidently opening the doors once more to Northshore High to invite back every generation that has ever and will ever roam its hallowed halls. “Get in, Loser”.

My Grade: 7/10 or B