New student Cady Heron is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called ‘The Plastics,’ ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George and her minion...
What was the endgame behind remaking “Mean Girls”? Like seriously, I’m at a loss for words here. I understand nothing will be safe from being retweaked or remade at the behest of the almighty dollar but even as someone who had only moderate interest in the 2004 movie, I don’t see the point.
And unfortunately, it’s unable to make fetch happen twice.
Re-contextualizing the entire film as a musical was admittedly a fascinating hook for me, considering A. I’ve actually seen it and B. Tina Fey returned to write the script like she did before. But off the bat, functioning as a hybrid mashup of both the 2004 film and the Broadway musical cripples this films structure. Script wise, it sticks beat for beat to the plot of the original story but in typical remake fashion, they strip away most of, if not all the authenticity that made the original movie stand out. It’s just a standardized, sanitized Cliff-notes alteration that doesn’t succeed in merging the entertaining volatility of musicals and comedies separately or combined. Not only that, but this “modern” version of the story isn’t interested in tapping into 2020’s social norms or uses in technology to properly update it and give the story more of an edge. Instead, it relentlessly self-deprecates itself in awareness of the absurdity of its own existence again and this time, it comes across depressingly rote.
Characters who felt relatable and human before now feel reductive and stagnant, dialogue ripped straight from the original feels more cumbersome here, there’s no surefooted pacing while the musical elements keep disrupting the momentum and its themes are drastically watered down. Ok, look, misogyny and slut-shaming is something I deeply despise as much as the next guy but that was a large part of the original movies DNA: how women and girls are pitted against each other to seek superiority over other girls and how not worth it was to somebody’s self-esteem. By dumbing that down, you essentially take away the core concept of the very thing you're trying to adapt.
Keep in mind, I rewatched the original not too long ago, it’s still pretty fresh in my head. It still has that overly comic vision of teen culture turning into a conspiracy for vindictiveness but given how far the original story went with dissecting the culture of gossip, high school politics and backstabbing for a new generation, you’d think it have no problem doing it again.
And then there’s the actual musical numbers. Sure, there’s maybe one standout among the deluge of generic symphonies and visuals (World Burn is amazing), but there’s little consistency behind these sequences. First of all, hiding that this was even a musical in the first place by the trailers wasn’t wise. Then, they try really hard to set up complicated shots that move through expertly choreographed dancers and convey heightened emotion, and sometimes the latter works but most of the time, they’re packed to the brim with claustrophobic blocking, cheap pop orchestration and terrible sound-mixing that prohibits any potential enthusiasm or wit for the performers to milk out or elevate.
And even if all that wasn’t an issue, the lyrics themselves are the farthest thing from grool.
As first time directors, you can tell that Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. want to have a good time here. That being said, their collaborative vision works more in tandem with the musical numbers than the actual beat-for-beat story, which is a shame because both halves just feel….sonically empty. It comes off strictly like autopilot.
Cinematography and editing, I don’t have much to say; it’s all fairly basic and it does its job. At least it does a much better job constructing a more surrealist-looking production design in all its exaggerated glory. I wish I could say the same for the costumes.
Let’s be real: the acting is…alright but it varies heavily. Renee Rapp KILLS IT as Regina George. Sure, she might not be as in the role as Rachel McAdams was but she made mincemeat out of what she was given. Hell, Bebe Wood actually makes for a solid Gretchen and Tina Fey and Tim Meadows are fine reprising their roles from the original. Everyone else….just looks uncomfortable.
This project was in desperate need of a lot more creative freedom in both the writing and musical department. Or better yet, why even make this remake? What was the point? I must reiterate WHAT WAS THE REASON?
