This movie is the worst of both worlds.
Hello everyone, my name is Aleisha Woodman and I am a recovering theatre kid. It’s been a few weeks since the Mean Girls movie musical was released and I’m finally ready to break my silence.
Having been a fan of the Mean Girls stage musical for nearly six years now, I was ecstatic when a movie adaptation was announced. When Reneé Rapp was cast to reprise her role of Regina George, my excitement was barely containable. After seeing the movie opening weekend, though, I was left utterly disappointed.
To summarize my feelings, all I can say is that the film-makers chickened out of making a full-blown musical. They cut some songs, toned others way down, and cast actors that weren’t up to singing the more challenging numbers.
It was clear that Angourie Rice, who played Cady Heron, (arguably the most important role of the show) was not the strong singer that the role requires. In my opinion, it brought down the quality of the whole film. The opening song of the stage musical, “It Roars,” was replaced with the much milder “What Ifs.” Furthermore, iconic songs such as “Stupid with Love” and “Revenge Party” were noticeably tuned down, and many of Cady’s vocal lines were taken out or sung by another character (shoutout to Jaquel Spivey as Damian for picking up the slack.)
With such big changes made to the music, I was left thinking, who was this movie made for?
Fans of the stage musical have been speaking (and posting) about their disappointment, while fans of the original movie are upset that the musical movie was made in the first place, wanting to let the iconic film rest.
I cannot spew all of this hate on the movie, though, without acknowledging the standout performances by Reneé Rapp as Regina George and Auliʻi Cravalho as Janice ‘Imi’ike. Both these actresses brought a new flare to the iconic characters without straying too far from the original adaptations. Plus, their vocals? Absolutely incredible. Poor Angourie never stood a chance singing alongside these two powerhouses. I WILL have Renee’s version of “Someone Gets Hurt” and Auliʻi’s version of “I’d Rather Be Me” on repeat for the foreseeable future.
To say that I was disappointed by this movie is an understatement. However, as a theatre kid, I still love musicals and movie musicals. I really hope that the lackluster reception of this movie doesn’t deter studios from producing more movie musicals or audiences from wanting to see them.