The Mean Girls are back on the big screen after 2 decades, this time with a musical spin. Tina Fey returns to pen this modern iteration of the classic, an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. We have a majorly fresh cast and crew this time to make it its own thing with an ensemble cast that includes Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp, Tina Fey, Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Tim Meadows, Christopher Briney, Bebe Wood, Avantika Vandanapu and Jon Hamm. Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. shared the directing duties this time around.
The 2004 original, which was also written by Tina Fey, is undoubtedly a classic and still fresh in most people’s memories. It was a pop culture phenomenon at its time and also gave career-defining roles to most of its cast. Bringing this brand back after such a long time was a bold approach from Tina Fey, who also produced this movie apart from writing the screenplay and starring in it. Her updated script has a lot of bright spots and she is able to mash a lot of modern elements into the narrative seamlessly, but she still fails to hit the mark with her screenplay.
One of the major problems is that we already know these iconic characters and even though the cast brings their own takes on them, the script hardly gives them a helping hand in doing so. The story as a result becomes very predictable and conventional. It feels like most of the attention was given to integrating the musical numbers into the script in a natural manner and bringing a musical flow to the narrative. Although it must be said that the movie definitely fits the musical mold and Fey surely succeeded in adapting that part of the story for the big screen.
The directors, who are also both debutants show their lack of experience, especially during the more serious and dramatic moments in the narrative. For some reason, it seems like they used all of their creativity in transition shots and had nothing left for the other parts. The colors and the art design are excellent and give the movie a vibrant and energetic feel to it. The pacing is slightly inconsistent and hampers the second act in particular, but it doesn’t necessarily feel too long.
Coming to the music which should’ve been one of the strongest parts of the movie, but unfortunately, it is not. None of the songs are particularly memorable, though most of them are really well choreographed and captured. Some of the songs also feel a little out of place and unnecessarily long. The singing though is really good all around. Renee Rapp, being a singer herself shows off her vocal range in World Burn, which was easily my favorite track in the album.
The performances are generally strong all around. The cast mostly has great chemistry and some of them show incredible comic timing. Angourie Rice has the innocent look but struggles during the mean turn of her character. Renee Rapp showed a lot of potential and brought a certain fierceness when she was on screen. Time Meadows and Tina Fey are great as usual. The two standouts for me were Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey, who were easily the most fun characters out of the bunch. They always had my attention and brought some much-needed spark to lift their scenes. Jon Hamm is frustratingly wasted.
Mean Girls struggles to rise above the shadows of the original due to an ordinary script and songs that are no great shakes. It has a bright ensemble and captures a lot of the spirit of the original with several nostalgic cues sprinkled throughout. The musical numbers a spectacularly choreographed but it can’t save a narrative that is only fun in parts. It also has a few cameos that could’ve been better used and a small post-credit scene that hardly excites. Moviegoers that are around the late teen to young adult age group will certainly have a decent time with this one.
Mean Girls will release in cinemas on January 12th.
