After two decades since its first release—Mean Girls makes a renewed comeback in the form of a fun film musical. Showing to local theaters on February 7 (and on a Wednesday, too!), the iconic high school comedy features an entertaining twist to its classic 2004 iteration. Mean Girls had a stage musical for Broadway back in 2018 and this is the film musical adaptation. The movie is transformed to relate more to this social media-savvy generation while still retaining the teenage humor and ambiance that its older version introduced.
Iconic Teen Comedy
Alexis Frias plays M. Richmond, Ben Wang plays Jacob Zheng, Mahi Alam plays Kevin Ganatra and Angourie Rice plays Cady Heron in Mean Girls from Paramount Pictures. Photo Credit: Jojo Whilden
Mean Girls 2024 is an enjoyable film for the up-and-coming young teen exploring the formidable jungle that is high school life. It’s very relatable, and funny, while at the same time, brazen with its exploration of the awkward (and sometimes embarrassing) stages of adolescent years. There’s drama, love, and everything in between in this film like most high school teen comedies are.
The plot features the adventures of clever 16-year-old Cady Heron attending high school for the first time after being homeschooled since childhood. While attempting to fit in and make new friends in such a strange new environment, she then meets the school’s elite group of girls called “The Plastics” headed by queen bee Regina George. Cady tries to adapt to her new school, experiences love for the first time, and gets entangled in the turmoils of peer pressure and the need for self-validation and acceptance.
Renewed and Invigorating Musical
Angourie Rice plays Cady Heron, Bebe Wood plays Gretchen Wieners and Avantika plays Karen Shetty in Mean Girls from Paramount Pictures. Photo: Jojo Whilden/Paramount © 2023 Paramount Pictures.
For someone who has seen the first Mean Girls from way back when I am amazed at the clever direction this movie has taken. Still, under the creative screenplay of Tina Fey, the 2024 Mean Girls musical film stars fresh new talents while retaining familiar faces in the cast that brought me bittersweet nostalgia. The actors played their part well and seeing them perform their iconic (and improved) lines has provided me with much entertainment.
While I have not seen the stage musical so I can’t compare how the songs have been delivered, I can share how much fun I have had seeing how they seamlessly tied the musical parts within the scenes in the movie. The songs are catchy and upbeat, and the dances are performed well with great vigor and are fun to watch.
It’s camp. It’s gay. It’s fetch! It has made a fun impression on me and to think I rarely take it upon myself to see many such movies on my own. There are elements and lines that aren’t the same as the old Mean Girls, of course, but I nonetheless appreciate them since they have improved them in ways that are equally fun fresh, and acceptable in this society.
Overall verdict
Renee Rapp plays Regina George in Mean Girls from Paramount Pictures. Photo: Jojo Whilden/Paramount © 2023 Paramount Pictures.
The Mean Girls musical film adaptation has made ‘fetch happen’ for me and I highly recommend this film if you are in the market for a light-hearted but equally amusing teen comedy to start your year. Personally, I think it’s better to have seen the older Mean Girls film to be able to recognize the subtle nostalgic references in this iteration, but it stands alone as a nice teen musical on its own.
I hope you enjoy this film as much as I did, and be sure to wear pink on Wednesdays, fellow Plastic!