Mean Girls returns to theaters in 2024 with a musical twist and the same old tale of teenage rivalry and social politics.
The original 2004 movie follows the story of Cady Heron, a high school student who moves from Africa and is now struggling to navigate through the social hierarchies of North Shore High. She soon befriends two outcasts, Janis and Damian, along with a group of girls known as “The Plastics.” Cady soon becomes entrapped in a world of teenage gossip, manipulation, and betrayal.
This 2004 classic is beloved for its incredibly inappropriate humor, while also shedding light on the horrible parts of high school. It is loved for its exaggerated high school drama and its captivating storyline.
The new remake stars Reneé Rapp, Avantika Vandanapu, Angourie Rice, and Bebe Wood who bring a new musical aspect to the original film.
However, this new 2024 remake is one of the worst movies of the new year so far.
If you do not like musicals or awkward dance breaks, you should not waste your time by watching this movie. This movie is flooded with musical outbursts, some familiar songs from the Broadway production and some new additions like “Not My Fault” by Renee Rapps who plays Regina George in the new film.
Although the songs are not bad to listen to, they just feel awkward and off-putting if you’ve seen the original movie.
The humor in the 2024 remake is also subpar. Most of the time, they are reusing the jokes from the original movie with a handful of humorous additional jokes.
Just like its jokes, the majority of the script for Mean Girls 2024 is a direct copy of the original. The same sassy, memorable lines from the movie made in 2004 are still scattered throughout the film, but these aren’t nearly as enjoyable the second time around.
After you get past how this movie is very obviously just a cash grab, the horribly timed music, and how it will never be anywhere near as hilarious as the original…the new movie is somewhat tolerable.
On the positive side, this movie does play into some new social norms of 2024. In the remake, characters often whip out their cell phones to take a selfie or text a friend about new gossip. While the original 2004 film did not have any iPhones included in the film.
They also removed some of the more “over the line” and borderline offensive comments that made it into the 2004 movie.
Overall, I give the movie Mean Girls (2024) a 3/10. This movie was incredibly hard to watch and almost identically matched the original movie’s plot line and script except for the awkward singing at random points throughout this movie.
In my mind, I would not recommend this movie to anyone, but I can imagine how someone who likes musicals or small children who have not seen the original Mean Girls would possibly like this. Other than those individuals, this movie is not worth the watch by any means and you should stick to the original 2004 movie.
