by Josh Sewell
Mean Girls is the third film since December that revamps a beloved story for modern audiences. (The others being Wonka and The Color Purple.) Like those other movies, its marketing seems to be pulling a bait-and-switch, making it seem like flick is a total remake when it’s actually a musical. This update is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the hit Broadway show – aside from several songs cut for time, pacing, etc. and some smart changes to characters and jokes that haven’t aged very well.
Granted, it never comes close to matching the quality of the iconic 2004 original, which featured Lindsay Lohan at the height of her fame and launched actresses like Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lizzy Caplan into stardom. However, the new version is still a fun, witty treat that boasts its own future Hollywood A-lister: the incredible Reneé Rapp. Her astounding performance is worth the ticket price by itself.
Tina Fey, who wrote the original film’s screenplay (very loosely based on Rosalind Wiseman’s nonfiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes) and helped create the Broadway version, returns to write and co-star in this adaption. It once again centers on new student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who gets a crash course in cutthroat high school social dynamics after spending most of her childhood on the African plains with her scientist mother (Jenna Fischer).
She quickly makes friends with lovable outcasts Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) but jumps at the chance to elevate her status when she’s invited to sit at the same lunch table as “The Plastics.” They’re an elite group of popular girls comprised of the devious Regina George (Rapp) and her two sidekicks, the insecure Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and the ditzy Karen (Avantika).
However, once Cady takes on her new friends’ not-so-kind personality traits and develops a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend (Christopher Briney), she finds herself alienated on all sides. Now she must learn how to stay true to herself while trying to repair the substantial wreckage in her wake.
Although Mean Girls struggles with some of the same third-act pacing issues that bogged down the original – just as the story feels like it should be wrapping up, there’s still about 30 minutes to go – it’s never a boring watch thanks to a nonstop array of catchy pop songs and a dazzling color palette. Composer Jeff Richmond, cinematographer Bill Kirstein, production designer Kelly McGehee and costume designer Tom Broecker all help to make this heightened, cartoonish world feel at least somewhat realistic.
Further kudos to directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. for honoring the original film without making this a slavish remake with some songs scattered throughout. The same goes for Fey – it would’ve been easy to make a carbon copy of her past work and cash the giant check, but she makes a real effort to update the story for an audience that wasn’t born when the first one hit theaters. (Neither was social media, which allows current mean girls to be even more brutal since they can hide behind the anonymity of a screen.)
As for the actors, Rice capably balances the movie on her shoulders while juggling the tricky tonal shifts. She’s also unafraid to make Cady truly unlikable in the rough third act. The actress doesn’t get a lot of showy moments, but that’s by design. She’s tasked with playing the straight woman, grounding the story’s emotional stakes while her costars get to have a lot more fun in crazy, over-the-top roles.
Fey and Tim Meadows, reprising their original roles as the school’s math teacher and principal, are just terrific here, adding further emotional complexity to their characters. That makes sense considering they’re both 20 years older. (You read that correctly… it’s been two decades since the original Mean Girls. If my midlife crisis wasn’t already in full effect, it sure is now.)
Avantika, Wood, Cravalho and Spivey are also fantastic, mostly avoiding comparison to the original film by putting a unique spin on their characters. But, as I mentioned earlier, the indisputable standout is Rapp.
It seems impossible to step into a role that helped transform McAdams into one of the most reliably talented actresses in Hollywood (she’s in contention for her second Oscar nomination this year), but Rapp’s version of Regina George is an entirely different, yet equally alluring, take on the character. Plus – remember this is a musical, after all – the woman can sing her face off.
Considering the love for the Mean Girls musical in theater kid circles and nostalgic affection for the original, this update is poised to surprise people at the box office when it opens this weekend. The early months of a new year are often a dumping ground for studios, so the flick has more breathing room than it would during the summer or holiday seasons. I might be wrong, but word of mouth could keep this one in the pop culture conversation for a while.
(Mean Girls is rated PG-13 for sexual material, strong language, and teen drinking. Opens in theaters on January 12.)
Grade: B
Granted, it never comes close to matching the quality of the iconic 2004 original, which featured Lindsay Lohan at the height of her fame and launched actresses like Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lizzy Caplan into stardom. However, the new version is still a fun, witty treat that boasts its own future Hollywood A-lister: the incredible Reneé Rapp. Her astounding performance is worth the ticket price by itself.
Tina Fey, who wrote the original film’s screenplay (very loosely based on Rosalind Wiseman’s nonfiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes) and helped create the Broadway version, returns to write and co-star in this adaption. It once again centers on new student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who gets a crash course in cutthroat high school social dynamics after spending most of her childhood on the African plains with her scientist mother (Jenna Fischer).
She quickly makes friends with lovable outcasts Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) but jumps at the chance to elevate her status when she’s invited to sit at the same lunch table as “The Plastics.” They’re an elite group of popular girls comprised of the devious Regina George (Rapp) and her two sidekicks, the insecure Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and the ditzy Karen (Avantika).
However, once Cady takes on her new friends’ not-so-kind personality traits and develops a crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend (Christopher Briney), she finds herself alienated on all sides. Now she must learn how to stay true to herself while trying to repair the substantial wreckage in her wake.
Although Mean Girls struggles with some of the same third-act pacing issues that bogged down the original – just as the story feels like it should be wrapping up, there’s still about 30 minutes to go – it’s never a boring watch thanks to a nonstop array of catchy pop songs and a dazzling color palette. Composer Jeff Richmond, cinematographer Bill Kirstein, production designer Kelly McGehee and costume designer Tom Broecker all help to make this heightened, cartoonish world feel at least somewhat realistic.
Further kudos to directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. for honoring the original film without making this a slavish remake with some songs scattered throughout. The same goes for Fey – it would’ve been easy to make a carbon copy of her past work and cash the giant check, but she makes a real effort to update the story for an audience that wasn’t born when the first one hit theaters. (Neither was social media, which allows current mean girls to be even more brutal since they can hide behind the anonymity of a screen.)
As for the actors, Rice capably balances the movie on her shoulders while juggling the tricky tonal shifts. She’s also unafraid to make Cady truly unlikable in the rough third act. The actress doesn’t get a lot of showy moments, but that’s by design. She’s tasked with playing the straight woman, grounding the story’s emotional stakes while her costars get to have a lot more fun in crazy, over-the-top roles.
Fey and Tim Meadows, reprising their original roles as the school’s math teacher and principal, are just terrific here, adding further emotional complexity to their characters. That makes sense considering they’re both 20 years older. (You read that correctly… it’s been two decades since the original Mean Girls. If my midlife crisis wasn’t already in full effect, it sure is now.)
Avantika, Wood, Cravalho and Spivey are also fantastic, mostly avoiding comparison to the original film by putting a unique spin on their characters. But, as I mentioned earlier, the indisputable standout is Rapp.
It seems impossible to step into a role that helped transform McAdams into one of the most reliably talented actresses in Hollywood (she’s in contention for her second Oscar nomination this year), but Rapp’s version of Regina George is an entirely different, yet equally alluring, take on the character. Plus – remember this is a musical, after all – the woman can sing her face off.
Considering the love for the Mean Girls musical in theater kid circles and nostalgic affection for the original, this update is poised to surprise people at the box office when it opens this weekend. The early months of a new year are often a dumping ground for studios, so the flick has more breathing room than it would during the summer or holiday seasons. I might be wrong, but word of mouth could keep this one in the pop culture conversation for a while.
(Mean Girls is rated PG-13 for sexual material, strong language, and teen drinking. Opens in theaters on January 12.)
Grade: B
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com
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