‘Mean Girls’ update energized by musical numbers
The third full-scale movie musical to hit theaters this winter, the new “Mean Girls” followed the same curious marketing strategy of both “Wonka” and “The Color Purple.” All three actively avoided showing song-and-dance in any of their advertising materials.
It’s an odd choice to hide the very attribute that distinguishes these new films from their previous incarnations. In the case of “Mean Girls,” the new movie recycles most of Tiny Fey’s script from the 2004 movie (itself an adaptation of a Rosalind Wiseman book) before adding musical numbers from the 2018 Broadway production (also penned by Fey, alongside music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Neil Benjamin). If not for the music and a few TikTok-related updates, this remake would be almost as redundant as Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho.”
Fortunately for “Mean Girls,” the music makes a satisfying impact. The songs are distinguishable and catchy, and the performances by the young cast elevate what has always been a fairly standard tale of high school melodrama.
The story in short: Homeschooler Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) arrives in stereotypical American high school after growing up in Kenya alongside her researcher mom (Jenna Fischer). Struggling to find a clique, Cady finds herself in the shadow of popular meanie Regina George (Reneé Rapp, reprising her role from the Broadway show) and her group of airheaded “plastics” (Bebe Wood, Avantika). Cady begins to live a double life, pretending to be a mean girl while working with social outcasts Janis and Damian (Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey) to sabotage Regina’s reign of terror. Both Fey and fellow “Saturday Night Live” Tim Meadows play the same roles as teachers from the 2004 movie.
The plot unspools with minimal changes to the source material (though the Christmas pageant performance plays a different, more crucial role in Regina’s eventual downfall). The new movie, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. in their feature debut, is top-heavy with songs before being forced to deal with the third act in a more traditional and disappointing fashion.
Rice holds the movie together well as Cady, though “Mean Girls” sparks more when Rapp and her killer voice dominate the proceedings. Cravalho (known for being the voice of “Moana”) also makes a huge impression here anchoring three of the show’s best songs.
Though regarded by many as a high school classic, the original “Mean Girls” and this new movie suffer because of an oversimplified and inert resolution to its central conflicts. Though the new movie adds a much-needed late scene between Cady and Regina, the screenplay sidelines the Regina character just when a better story would allow the other characters to confront and challenge her.
Sticking with the original story will please fans of the original, no doubt. Still, it seems like a missed opportunity to distinguish this “Mean Girls” from its source materials. The movie is content with delivering only what’s promised, which includes the somewhat flat, unimaginative staging of the musical numbers. There isn’t much difference here visually from what you might have seen on the Broadway stage.
Quibbles aside, enough of Fey’s script delivers laughs and the music pops, especially when led by Rapp and Cravalho. It might just be “fetch” enough … if anyone actually knew what that meant.
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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.
Writer-producer Tina Fey attends the world premiere of "Mean Girls" at AMC Lincoln Square on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)