Regina George told Gretchen Wieners to stop trying to make fetch happen, because it wasn’t going to happen, and Regina was right — to an extent.
The 2024 Mean Girls movie musical — based on the 2018 Broadway stage musical, which was based on the 2004 film — attempts to combine the two into an updated version of the story. And just like how Janis warned Cady about Regina, we’re warning you that mild spoilers are ahead.
A Captivating Cast
Above all else, what the 2024 movie did best was deliver fantastic acting performances from the cast, particularly the principal cast. From the start, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey prove they know how to put on a show, as their Janis and Damian open the movie in true musical fashion: with a song. Angourie Rice nails the innocence and sweetness that’s at Cady’s core. Avantika is a hilarious Karen with perfect comedic timing who never fails to make you laugh, and Bebe Wood nails the fragility and vulnerability at the root of Gretchen’s character arc.
As for the queen bee herself? Her name is Reneé Rapp — or Regina George — and she is a massive deal.
There’s a reason the marketing made it seem like Regina’s the main character instead of Cady. There’s a reason Tina Fey immediately knew who she wanted to play Regina in the Mean Girls movie musical. There’s a reason Rapp reprised her role after making her Broadway debut in the stage version. To reference the 2004 film, how do we even begin to explain Reneé Rapp? Rapp’s Regina simply brings the character to a whole other level. You simultaneously love, hate, and fear her. As Rachel McAdams, the original Regina, said, “She can do no wrong.”
Finding Melody with the Music
To the surprise of some, Mean Girls is indeed a movie musical. Not every song from the Broadway musical is in the movie musical, but that is totally fine, normal, and for the best. However, what wasn’t for the best is giving all of the songs a pop vibe instead of a musical theater sound. Going for a more traditional pop sound worked for only a few songs, but going full Broadway would have worked well for all of them.
As with the stage adaptation, “World Burn” and “I’d Rather Be Me” are the strongest songs. Rapp and Cravalho both have incredible vocal and acting chops to carry those respective tunes technically and emotionally. Karen’s Halloween number, “Sexy,” is fun, entertaining, and another musical highlight where Avantika, the dancers and Kyle Hanagami’s choreography steal the show.
Typically characters in a musical will break out into song because their feelings are too strong, too powerful to convey by simply speaking. But that wasn’t the case for every song in the Mean Girls movie musical. It didn’t always feel like the songs were emotions that couldn’t be expressed any other way. Because of that, the music sometimes felt like it came out of nowhere with weak transitions. Characters literally break out into song in musicals, but there should still be a natural flow and rhythm.
Mean Girls Movie Musical Makes Necessary Changes
Considering 20 years have passed since the original film, Mean Girls needed to update problematic elements that are no longer acceptable or appropriate. Even some lines and lyrics from the 2018 Broadway show needed editing. The creative team of the movie musical also made other changes to further update the film for 2024.
Last names were changed to reflect the cultural and ethnic backgrounds of their actors. Janis Ian (or Sarkisian from the stage version) is now Janis ‘Imi’ike for Auli’i Cravalho, and Karen Smith is now Karen Shetty for Avantika. Sexual orientations and gender identities across the spectrum are more represented and not looked down upon. Cravalho’s Janis is openly gay and proud of it. Throughout the spring fling dance, there are couples of all shapes, sizes, and orientations. In addition, Cady’s mom is a single mother, played by Jenna Fischer — which is perfect casting! — while the original movie really only depicted nuclear families.
The changes make the film more diverse and don’t take away from the original movie at all. The movie musical is just as funny and entertaining and even has a few surprises for fans of the original film. This just goes to show the care Tina Fey and the entire creative team put into improving the beloved story and its characters.
Mean Girls is now in theaters.
