Mean Girls… The Musical: The new Mean Girls musical movie is a downgrade of the original 2004 one

The original 2004 “Mean Girls” movie was iconic, from the burn book to the color pink. So my expectations were high for the remake — I was ready to be blown out of my seat by the same pink sequins and sassy one-liners the original movie was known for. 

But the new movie did not top the original. Released on Jan. 12, “Mean Girls” was entertaining — but not entertaining enough to overshadow the abundance of cringe-worthy moments where I wished everyone would stop singing.  

Screenwriter Tina Fey, who plays the math teacher Ms. Norbury in both movies, shocked everyone by turning this film into a musical without advertising the movie as a musical. The trailer of the movie had zero hints that the movie would be jam-packed with flash-mobs and musical numbers, aside from the single music note in the title, which wasn’t a big enough hint for me to realize it was a musical. 

Scene one was set in Kenya, Africa — where the main character, Cady Heron, lived before moving to North Shore High in Evanston, Illinois — included singing. The music added a new twist, making the widely-known movie less predictable with unexpected outbursts of singing. I enjoyed the flash mobs and characters randomly breaking out into song, but  occasionally found myself sinking into my seat when Cady sang about her love for math and meeting a boy she liked.

The movie was also more modern and reflected current trends — I often found myself taking note of trends or brands I saw. Characters like Regina George and Karen Smith wear popular corset tops that mimic the styles of Urban Outfitters or Garage. The style felt more up-to-date with recent clothing trends — despite the obvious fact that most people wouldn’t choose to wear those clothes to school in real life. 

I didn’t like how some of these more modern outfits felt inauthentic to the characters I fell in love with in the original movie. Even Regina — played by actress Reneé Rapp — wore black multiple times throughout the movie. The original Regina would never wear black, considering the Plastics’ most iconic color is pink. 

The amount of obvious product placement in the movie made it feel like a two-hour ad campaign — something I didn’t pay to see. Regina was shown multiple times using ELF, a popular drugstore makeup brand, while more high-end brands like Charlotte Tilbury or Dior would have fit her character better. All characters also used the new foldable Samsung Galaxy phones when it would’ve been more realistic for at least a few to have iPhones. 

They redeemed themselves by using current social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram and including influencers Chris Olsen and the Merrell twins throughout the movie made it feel more relatable. 

Casting in this movie was mostly spot on. Rapp and co-star Bebe Wood — Gretchen Wieners — couldn’t have been picked more perfectly to play their sassy roles, which they executed almost as well as the original actors, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert. And I even found myself enjoying some of the songs in the movie. Rapp’s voice in “Meet the Plastics” and “World Burn” was mesmerizing.

But actresses Angourie Rice and Avantika Vandanapu — Cady and Karen — didn’t live up to Lindsey Lohan and Amanda Seyfried’s acting in the original. The remake actresses were too over the top, it felt like they were trying too hard to be better than the original characters.

While many well-known quotes and scenes like “On Wednesdays we wear pink” and “You can’t sit with us” scenes were included in the movie, a few iconic lines and moments were left out or changed. 

The famous three-way call scene was missing from the new Mean Girls when Karen lies to Regina and says, “I can’t go out *cough cough* I’m sick.” Along with the revised Jingle Bell Rock dance the Plastics performed at the talent show, which had different choreography and left out the famous lines “I’m always on your left” and “Right now you’re getting on my last nerve, switch,” between Gretchen and Regina.

Still, if you’re craving “Mean Girls” nostalgia and don’t cringe at songs about math and meeting a cute boy, then this movie is for you.