Honoring its 20-year anniversary, Mean Girls released January 12, 2024, as a musical remake, featuring the biggest and upcoming stars! With actress Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, singer-songwriter Renee Rapp as Regina George, The Summer I Turned Pretty star, Christopher Briney, as Aaron Samuels, and former Disney star, Auli’i Cravalho, as Janis Sarkisian, this was a stacked cast with a few surprising cameos! Following the original 2004 plot, Cady Heron arrives to North Shore High School after being homeschooled her entire life in Kenya. Besties Damien and Janis show her the ins and outs of high school and who NOT to mess with: the one and only Regina George. Intrigued by Cady, Regina and her entourage invite Cady into their lives as The Plastics. What starts out as an innocent friendship (in Cady’s eyes) turns into a deceitful plot with musical intermissions to sabotage Regina George’s hierarchy in the North Shore food chain.
As I entered Cinemark theatres, the entire lobby was filled with teenagers and young adults wearing none other than pink. A cardboard stand of the iconic burn book was used by all for pictures, followed by an assembly line towards theater seven where Mean Girls awaited. It’s safe to say the film had an exciting first week, as box offices ruled at $32 million. Personally, as I am not a fan of musicals, I think this one was worth watching. With lyrics either detailing Regina George’s power or Cady swooning over Aaron Samuels, each song was entertaining with synchronized choreography filling the halls of Northshore creating “dream-like” atmosphere between the song and the character. Positively, the soundtrack had slower pop songs like “I See Stars” and upbeat tracks such as “Revenge Party” and “Sexy”. However, as the film progressed, I felt overwhelmed by the musical numbers as the songs came one after another. I do appreciate how the remake kept original scenes such as the Halloween party and iconic lines like “that’s no fetch!” A major add-on were the filler scenes that included TikToks, Instagram feeds, and other social media posts that contributed to dramatic scenes such as Regina’s bus accident and her fall in the Jingle Bell Rock dance.
Overall, Mean Girls (2024) is an entertaining and modern take from its predecessor that appeals to the current generation of teenage girls and young adults. From a stacked cast list to catchy tunes, one can enjoy the film from beginning to end. However, the classics will never go out of style!
