Mean Girls 2024 is fun – but it's far too faithful to the original
More changes to Tina Fey's script would have been welcome in the musical remake.
In the two decades since the era-defining Lindsay Lohan teen comedy Mean Girls was released back in 2004, its impact has been astronomical. Not only did it help to launch the careers of A-listers such as Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried, but it also saw a vast array of phrases and putdowns passed into everyday speech – rendering it, arguably, the most quotable film of the 21st century.
Now, a new version is arriving in UK cinemas, but with one major twist: this time it's a musical (based on the successful Broadway show that opened in 2017). That might seem like rather a significant diversion from the 2004 film, but in reality not all that much has changed. Indeed, aside from the presence of several song-and-dance numbers, the script is remarkably similar to that of the original, so much so that watching it can sometimes become a slightly uncanny experience.
Returning screenwriter Tina Fey has slightly jazzed up the screenplay, removing one or two lines that may now be considered to be in poor taste for 2024 sensibilities – which sees the film lose some of its bite in the process – and adding others that are targeted more squarely at a younger Gen Z audience, including the addition of several social media montages. But by and large, you'll watch this film and recognise not just every story beat but also vast swathes of the dialogue, including – almost without exception – the film's most iconic lines.
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The result is a film that, despite feeling like a carbon copy, is naturally quite fun to watch. After all, the original became a beloved classic for a reason, and it remains hard not to chuckle even when hearing many of its best, most crowd-pleasing lines for the umpteenth time – especially given the new cast (which includes Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp and Auliʻi Cravalho) are often spot on with their deliveries.
But it's also a film that leaves you wondering if a more thorough rewrite might have been a more interesting proposition, not because the original has lost any of its zip or potency, but precisely because it remains so relevant. Because, unless someone is a real sucker for the musical sequences – which are enjoyable but, on the whole, fairly unmemorable – why should they bother with the new version when the original still exists in all its glory?
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Of course, it's perfectly understandable why Fey might have been reluctant to make major alterations to such a beloved script: can you imagine the clamour from fans if the Plastics no longer insisted on wearing pink on Wednesdays, or if, shock horror, Gretchen was less determined to "make fetch happen?"
But even so, it seems like a wasted opportunity to make something a little more fresh and original out of the source material, rather than the low-risk approach of simply rehashing a script that many viewers will know practically off by heart already, with the addition of the songs serving as practically the only difference besides a couple of new jokes.
Although the quality of those songs is inconsistent, they certainly do add something new to the table, and it's easy to get caught up in some of the more energetic numbers – especially Karen's (Avantika) Halloween song Sexy and the ensemble piece Revenge Party, sung mainly by Cady (Rice), Janis (Cravalho) and Damien (Jaquel Spivey). But this could have been the starting point for a more substantially altered film rather than pretty much the only thing that differentiates it from the previous version.
And so, ultimately what Mean Girls 2024 ends up as is something enjoyable but more-or-less completely disposable. A film that in the not-so-distant future will probably await the same fate as the panned made-for-TV sequel from 2011: an all-but-forgotten footnote to the brilliance of the original.
What does Mean Girls 2024 change from the original?
As mentioned above, there are relatively few changes in the new version, but there are a few minor points of difference between the two films – albeit ones that largely have little bearing on the storyline.
For example, in the new film, Cady's father is no longer in the picture and she is instead the only child of a single mother, while Principal Duvall and Ms Norbury (both played by their original actors Tim Meadows and Fey) are now a married couple.
And there are a few minor storylines that are taken out, most likely because they'd now be considered inappropriate: most noticeably the fact that PE and sex education teacher Coach Carr is no longer seen to have had an affair with one of his pupils. Other changes made to the script to reflect modern attitudes include the removal of a line referring to a character as a "fat virgin" and no longer using the term "social suicide".
And then there are a couple of meta jokes that reference the original – including Gretchen mentioning that she first heard the word "fetch" in an old film she'd watched, and a big-name cameo towards the end of the film.
Meanwhile, one slightly more major change relates to the character of Janis and the origins of her ongoing feud with Regina. Whereas in the original Janis' sexuality was never explicitly stated but was nonetheless the source of homophobic bullying from the Plastics, in the new film she is openly queer – with Regina's mocking of her more centered on the fact that she is a "pyromaniac".
This is based on an incident from their past when Janis accidentally set fire to Regina's backpack while burning a toy both of them had owned after she discovered the latter had been mocking her behind her back.
Mean Girls is released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 17th January 2024. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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