In the age of failed reboots and underwhelming sequels, there are a few key reasons why Mean Girls 2024’s reviews are so positive — and so fetch. Directed by Mark Waters and penned by 30 Rock creator and Saturday Night Live (SNL) alum Tina Fey, 2004’s Mean Girls is classic teen comedy fare; however, the movie’s managed to not just endure, but remain wildly popular. In the original film, Lindsay Lohan stars as homeschooled teen Cady Heron, who finds herself thrust into the jungle that is North Shore High. Taken in by fellow outsiders Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese), Cady navigates crushes, classes, and “the Plastics.”
Led by queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), and rounded out by the insecure Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) and sweet-but-dim Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried), the Plastics rule North Shore’s social scene. When Regina invites Cady to join the Plastics for lunch, Janis convinces her newfound friend to infiltrate the clique and, bit by bit, destroy the Plastics. In 2018, a Mean Girls musical adaptation hit Broadway; now, that stage adaptation is being brought back to the screen in Mean Girls (2024). Against all odds, the comedy-musical re-imagining of Tina Fey’s 2004 pop-cultural phenomenon proves the limit does not exist for some franchises.
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6 Mean Girls (2024) Boasts Exciting Musical Numbers
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The most glaring difference between Mean Girls (2024) and the original, two-decade-old film is that the update incorporates elements from the Broadway show. Of course, that means several musical numbers and a cast rife with theatrical talents. As one reviewer from Consequence aptly puts it, “[H]earing iconic quotes… [repeated] sometimes like a tired cover of a once-beloved song.” While a straight remake would’ve felt overly familiar, the addition of musical numbers brings a fresh spark. However, that doesn’t mean the songs are poised to become earworms, with many reviewers criticizing the film’s disappointing choreography and not-so-memorable lyrics.
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The New Queen Bee Of North Shore High Has Arrived
If there’s one thing critics can agree upon when it comes to Mean Girls‘ (2024) merits, it’s the film’s talented ensemble cast. Despite boasting household names like Fey and Lohan, the original Mean Girls boosted plenty of rising stars, including Seyfried. While viewers will recognize Angourie Rice (Mare of Easttown), Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty), and Auliʻi Cravalho (Moana), it also puts the incredibly talented Reneé Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) front and center. Rapp originated the role of Regina on Broadway; like before, Rapp steals the spotlight by paying homage to the 2004 character while still infusing Regina with her own brand of menace.
4 Mean Girls (2024) Isn’t Afraid To Lean Into “Its Own Pointlessness”
Tina Fey Knows What You’re Thinking About Her Remake
A critic for The Daily Beast notes that 2024’s Mean Girls “prevails by leaning hard into its own pointlessness.” That may sound like a harsh take, but it’s true that the film is strongest when it’s not pretending to be the original (or, like Cady, pretending to be something it isn’t). While most of the movie-musical’s script is a word-for-word regurgitation of the classic teen comedy, it definitely feels more ironic in places. There’s a knowing, self-awareness — in large part because Fey, who penned the screenplay and the musical’s book, returns here. Much like the Broadway version, Mean Girls (2024) knows it won’t make fetch happen, but it does want to have a lot of fun trying.
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It’s both good and bad that 2024’s Mean Girls retreads familiar territory. On the one hand, there’s a reason the 2004 formula worked so well. However, contemporary Hollywood’s shot-for-shot remakes are getting old. There’s no doubt that Mean Girls is aimed, primarily, at nostalgic Millennial viewers. That said, it makes sure to borrow a lot from the source film while also keeping its musical leanings intact. By embracing the familiar, Mean Girls (2024) manages to open the doors of North Shore High to a new generation of teens without locking out the property’s original die-hard fans. In that sense, the movie succeeds in its difficult balancing act.
2 The 2024 Movie Updates 2004’s Mean Girls
Mean Girls (2024) Features New Jokes (& Less Problematic Ones)
A majority of reviews for the musical remount of Mean Girls note that the film plays it safe. While the 2004 film felt both edgy and progressive, from its woman-led perspective to its queer-inclusive feel, the 2024 version is a paint-by-the-numbers redo, but with musical numbers and smartphones. That said, some good does come from the film’s tone. For starters, it course-corrects some of the more outdated, problematic parts of the original outing. Additionally, Fey managed to plug in a few fresh jokes — not enough to totally surprise fans of the original, but enough to make it feel more of-the-moment.
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1 The Cast Of Mean Girls (2024) Is Having A Great Time
The Comedy-Musical Movie Prioritizes Fun
Although it may sound a bit cheesy, Mean Girls (2024) succeeds because it puts having a good time above all else. For starters, the remarkably talented teen cast is stacked with fans of the 2004 classic. Not only are they familiar with the source material, but they want to do right by it. It’s that blend of awareness and levity that makes the movie engaging. In a Broadway musical setting, actors feed off the energy of the audience and, in return, give that vivacity back to the crowd. While the same can’t really be true for a film, Mean Girls gets close to that feeling.
While the 2024 version of Mean Girls has been lambasted for having weak musical numbers, it’s clear the actors are having a great time reenacting classic moments (as well as ones originally crafted for the stage). Sometimes, that kind of feeling can elevate an average movie. Even if Mean Girls (2024) won’t endure in the same way the 2004 film has for two decades, there’s no denying that the film makes viewers want to quote the best, now-famous Mean Girls lines alongside the actors or dance to the bubbly songs. And that’s pretty fetch.
Sources: Consequence, The Daily Beast, Rotten Tomatoes
