The iconic film, Mean Girls initially came out in 2004. Twenty years later, a musical revamp made it to the theaters on January 26, 2024. The original film we all know and love sets high expectations for a new recreation to live up to. Remaking something that took place two decades ago is not an easy task. It is highly challenging in the ever-changing world to make something that combines factors of the old film but also makes sure it’s relevant in current times. Whether the producer did this well is up for debate, however; I will be sharing my opinions on the remake and how it compares to the first movie. Throughout this review, I will depict some of the major and minor differences between the movies.
First, let’s start with some background information to help you better understand what we are comparing. In case you aren’t familiar with Mean Girls or need a quick refresher, it follows the high school experience of four main girls. Cady, who recently moved from Africa to Illinois is navigating high school for the first time. She gets sucked up into a group called “The Plastics” and at first joins to get insider information about the member’s lives. Regina George who seems to be the “leader” of the pack, causes a lot of drama between the girls and other people at school. Cady falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend and to put it in short, this causes a whole lot of conflict. Throughout the movie, Cady begins digging herself into a hole of not being liked. Groups of people start to turn on her after learning the truth about her life and her intentions in the group “The Plastics.” The story wraps up with each of the girls finding their self. They each drift away from the toxic group and carry out their individual interests. Now that you’ve got a quick refresher on the storyline, I will begin sharing the changes I have noticed after watching both movies.
To start with the obvious difference, the new film was a musical while the original was not. There was lots of singing and dancing in the revamp which was not a part of the earliest film. While many people enjoy musicals, I will admit that they are just not my favorite thing. While watching the movie, I frequently found myself just wanting a song to be over and for the people to stop singing so much. I know that many people love musicals so if you fall into this category, I would think you would enjoy watching the new version.
Another noticeable change throughout the movie is the change in time period. The producers made the musical version take place in more modern-day times. With the shift in time, there was a bigger influence from technology than from the older film. Having cell phones around and more technological advances impacted the plot of the story. For example, technology took away the amount of face-to-face conversations. Rumors were spread more online in the new movie rather than from word of mouth like the original. Although this shift made it more connected to times today, I feel like it took away from parts that made the original so special.
A distinct difference from the older film I noticed was the outfit choices. The outfits in the newer film were dressed in a more targeted style to present-day teenagers. Some people thought the outfits Regina George was wearing in the new movie would be something she wouldn’t be caught wearing based on her personality. Although I do think there is some truth to this statement, I believe it did not take away from the movie at all. Since it takes place in today’s world, I think it made sense to update the outfits. There were probably some better choices that could have been made outfit-wise but I don’t think it was the biggest mistake in the film.
Although I’ve mainly focused on the negative aspects of the film, there were some great parts of the film worth mentioning. Not all of the changes in the new film were for the bad. One thing I noticed in the modern film is how much more diversity it included. There was not only diversity in more characters but also in interests that the people had. I think this was a great advancement in showing more representation for all people.
The storyline and plot were almost parallel to the original. There were only a few minor event changes made that did not impact the big picture. There were many times that you would be able to expect what was coming next just from having seen the original which I thought was great. I also thought it was cool to have some of the same actors come back and make an appearance in the recent remake. Lindsay Lohan who played Cady Heron in the first film had a quick appearance as a math competition judge in the remake. Tina Fey also returned to continue her role as Ms. Norbury in the 2024 version. The principal, Mr. Duvall was also added to the cast to replay his role. I think all these reappearances were a fun surprise for the audience to appreciate.
Overall, I thought the new film was not executed as well as it could have been. I just feel like there were many missed opportunities to create a better product than the one produced. I feel like there were many chances to tie the musical version together in more ways than done. I did not enjoy the film as much as I thought, however; there were some great changes made in this film so I would rate this remake a 3 out of 5 stars.
