‘Mean Girls’ Review: Musical Adaptation Struggles To Shine In The Shadow Of Its Predecessor
10.01.2024 - 15:06
/ deadline.com
Mean Girls 2024, directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., and starring a vibrant ensemble including Renée Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Angourie Rice, Tina Fey (who also wrote the screenplay), Jaquel Spivey, and many others. This musical adaptation brings the classic 2004 teen comedy into the modern era with updated cultural references and a more diverse cast. However, the film struggles to justify its existence beyond surface-level changes and ultimately falters in delivering a coherent, impactful story that offers little new or compelling.
Mean Girls is adapted from Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book, Queen Bees and Wannabes and became a Broadway musical in 2018, featuring music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. The movie closely follows the plot of the original film and centers around Cady Heron (Rice), a naive teenager who spent her childhood in Africa with her parents. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she moves to the United States and enrolls in a public high school. Unfamiliar with American high school social norms and cliques, Cady meets Janis (Cravalho) and Damian (Spivey), who guide her through the various factions within the school, helping her find her place.
Cady’s world changes when she encounters the Plastics, the school’s most popular and feared clique, led by the ruthless Regina George (Rapp). Regina, along with her loyal followers Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood) and Karen Smith (Avantika Vandanapu), reigns supreme over the social hierarchy. Initially repelled by their superficiality, Cady is eventually persuaded by her new friends, Janis and Damian, to infiltrate the Plastics and bring them down from the inside.
The original film from 2004 was a cultural phenomenon, etching itself into the