By the end of its one-hour and 37-minute run time, my sister and I both agreed: Mean Girls was definitely not going to be our new favorite movie. That isn’t to say that the new movie is bad––it isn’t. As someone who was obsessed with the musical in high school, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in the movie version. Reneé Rapp (Regina), Avantika Vandanapu (Karen), and Jaquel Spivey (Damian) were all amazing, with Auli’i Cravalho (Janis) not far behind. But both of us were rather unimpressed with the rest of the casting.
Angourie Rice playing the front role of Cady Heron was a choice the directors made. Definitely a choice. I thought she was great in the newest Spiderman installments, but I don’t think she was made for Broadway. Not trying to sound harsh but if you take one listen to the original soundtrack you’ll quickly agree that her lackluster performance just wasn’t giving what it should have been. Bebe Wood who played Gretchen, she’s just…there. Not terrible but not great either. Same with Christopher Briney as Aaron Samuels. They didn’t have him sing at all the way they do in the musical and for me, that made him feel very disconnected from the rest of the characters.
However, Vandanapu (Karen) knocked it out of the park with her performance of “Sexy” and I’m now completely obsessed with her. Her dancing, acting, and comic timing were all perfect and I’m convinced she’s going to be the newest up-and-coming “it girl.” Later, Rapp sings “Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn.” Her vocals during these two performances are insane. I would honestly watch it again just for those two scenes. Not only are they both breathtakingly gorgeous but they also killed it with their singing.
Another no for me was the clothing. As soon as the trailer dropped, the SHEIN aesthetic of the movie was something people were quick to notice. If they had dressed them the way they dressed Rapp in her role of Leighton Murray on HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls it would have been amazing. I was expecting preppy and expensive clothes and instead, it looks like they ransacked an H&M clearance rack.
There was also a lot of dialogue. That makes sense considering it’s, you know, a movie, but there is way more dialogue in the movie than the musical and they cut out a few songs entirely. They also cut out the best parts of a few songs like “Meet the Plastics,” where the three mean girls get to sing in a gorgeous blend. It’s a fan favorite and many were disappointed.
Overall, it’s a good movie. It stays true to the original film with a few new jokes, most of the casting was great, and I loved the callbacks but musically it didn’t do it for me. And considering it’s a musical and not a remake, they sorely missed the mark. It felt like watching the original movie with a bit of singing thrown in. There were a few times I would forget it was the musical version and not just a remake so when they started singing again it kept catching me off guard and felt a bit awkward. Don’t even get me started on the close-up of Cady’s face with her monotone singing or the obnoxious product placements of E.L.F. Cosmetics. Lots of misses, but the presence of Rapp and Vandanapu almost entirely made up for it. It’s a movie to wait and see on streaming rather than cough up the $15 for, but once it’s out, grab some friends, put on pink, and it can be a great night!
