“Mean Girls” is a 2 hour long comedic musical released on January 12, 2024, based on the original comedic drama “Mean Girls”, released on April 30, 2004, starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert.
In the 2024 musical, Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), is a transfer to North Shore High School and quickly gets recruited by “The Plastics”, and that includes Regina George (Reneé Rapp), Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood), and Karen Smith (Avantika Vandanapu). Cady accidentally falls for Regina’s ex boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), and makes an enemy out of Regina. Cady and her two rejected friends, Janis Sarkisian (Auli’i Cravalho), and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), set out to overthrow the queen of the plastics and take her crown.
“Mean Girls” has a 70% rating on Tomatometer from critics and 63% Audience Score rating.
The overall average rating from Mounties is a whopping 4/10, based on ratings ranging from 2/10-8/10.
Various responses from Mounties leave a negative impression on those who have yet to see the film: the trailer made them not want to see it, it isn’t realistic to high school at all, and the clothing choices were ugly.
On the one hand, Gigi Gaffney ‘25 believed the movie was “super good”, but as an avid member of the Mount’s musical productions, she also said, “I love “Mean Girls” the musical, so I kinda think it didn’t do the musical justice how it should’ve.”
On the other hand, Adrianna Sannicandro ‘27 didn’t think the movie was “that good” and assertively said, “I think they could’ve done a better job with the casting.”
Georgie Ford ‘24, agreeing with Adrianna, said, “the trailer didn’t advertise it as a musical…if you don’t like musicals then it’s not entertaining at all.” She also complained the movie was “eh” and the soundtrack was only “alright”.
Mounties also gave statements as to how the 2024 musical compared to the 2004 original movie specifically.
“You can’t really recreate the mean girls original cause it’s THE mean girls,” said Gaffney.
Sannicandro said, “The original movie is way better.”
“It was toeing the line of like, it wanted to be the musical, but also the movie…and didn’t quite get there on either side,” said Ford as she summed up her analysis.
The audience from Tomatometer says “As long as you can avoid comparing it to the original — and you don’t mind musicals “Mean Girls” is a fun watch with some strong performances.”
If you loved the original 2004 “Mean Girls” and want a similar flavor to try, then go ahead and purchase a ticket, but don’t expect as high of a quality film as the original movie.
If you thought the original was only alright, and aren’t interested in musicals or a middle of the road soundtrack, maybe wait until the movie is rentable or free.
Bottom line: if you hate musicals, poorly placed brand deals, and below-par recreations of amazing films, don’t waste your money or your time on this one.
