Iconic. That’s the word that instantly comes to mind when I think about the 2004 film “Mean Girls.” This comedy is sure to make you laugh out loud and rewatch for many more decades to come.
However, the new “Mean Girls” musical, released this January, is a whole different story.
The storyline in the new film is nearly identical to that of the original. It revolves around high school drama, boys and the meaning of true friends.
Cady Heron moves to a new high school, where she instantly clicks with her down-to-earth companions, Janis Ian and Damian. Cady later becomes friends with the “plastics” – Regina, Karen and Gretchen. Cady chooses to hang with the mean popular girls just to report their juicy gossip back to Janice and Damien.
Soon enough, she becomes just as ruthless as the popular girls and starts to fit in with them. Her world comes crashing down because of her actions.
I wish that there were more elements of surprise in the new film. The movie is a musical, which is quite different from the original. Aside from that, the storylines of the two movies were nearly identical. As I sat and watched, I knew almost everything that was going to happen, which made the film seem to drag on.
The musical performances were well done and exciting to watch in the new “Mean Girls.” However, I was not a huge fan of watching one performance after another. The performances seemed to be a bit excessive, especially toward the end of the movie.
The original movie starred Lindsay Lohan (Cady), Rachel McAdams (Regina), Amanda Seyfried (Karen) and Lacey Chabert (Gretchen). There are many new faces in the remake, including Angourie Rice (Cady), Renee Rapp (Regina), Avantika (Karen) and Bebe Wood (Gretchen).
The characters in the new “Mean Girls” looked and acted very similarly to the previous characters. They did a really good job of portraying the characters’ sass, humor and confidence, which is what the movie is known for.
All in all, this movie was underwhelming and a bit disappointing in my opinion. I had hoped that it would be just as iconic, if not more, than that original film. I would maybe consider watching this film again in the future, but it definitely will not be at the top of my must-watch list sadly.
Fetch? I think not.
