Mean Girls

As a massive fan of both the original movie and musicals in general, I was actually quite excited for this. Sure, do we need a remake? Probably not, but considering this film was a new spin on the original and updated to reflect the dynamics in high school now, I feel like it warranted a remake.

I also think that Tina Fey is a screenwriting genius, but sadly I think that's why I found this adaptation so disappointing. I will get to the movie sections, but the musical sections were rough. Sadly, lyrically the songs are just bad. Minus a few songs, all and all they just don't work. I think especially when it's compared to the wit and sharpness of the screenplay, which is still as good as the original, the songs just feel so underwritten.

What doesn't help the songs is how they're performed. I listened to Tina Fey speak about the direction for the music in the film, an attempt was made to make the music less "Broadway" so people would leave and want to stream the songs from the movie, they should have songed like songs you would already be listening to. I think this completely ruined some of the songs as the energy was just completely missing, it was subdued when it shouldn't have been.

It's not all bad, I think there were clearly three songs which stood above the rest. I'd Rather Be Me and World Burn, for their sheer vocals, and the standout, Sexy, for both the vocal, its comedy and how it actually was integrated into the scene. While they were good, I don't feel compelled to go listen to them regularly. I mean every song was eclipsed by the Reneé Rapp and Megan song.

I sadly feel as if this film was void of its musical scenes, it would have been better. the film felt like random songs thrown into a film, it was not cohesive. What’s more is that I actually enjoyed the dialogue portions, yeah it's not coming close to the original but it's fun and fresh in its own way, and even the iconic lines and scenes had a different spin on them. Some really funny comedy as well, I burst out laughing at the icarly joke.

Some performances as well were really good, Reneé Rapp was incredible as if I was surprised and Auli'i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey were a lot of fun. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed Avantika, she stole a lot of scenes. Sadly, I do think some of the cast just didn't work as well, Angourie Rice and Christopher Briney are by no means bad, they just feel miscast, and in a film of big personalities who all fit their characters it becomes noticeable.

Will say for the most part how this movie used tiktok and social media felt realistic and was a good use of it which is rare, but sadly I don't think this comes close to the classic which is a masterpiece