The 2024 ‘Mean Girls’ movie musical may finally make ‘fetch’ happen

Based on the 2004 film of the same name and its Broadway musical counterpart, “Mean Girls” brings a modern, musical twist on the Tina Fey classic to the big screen.

The original adaptation is known for its hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments as Cady Heron, a role originated by Lindsay Lohan, tries to navigate a new, terrifying ecosystem: high school.

Angourie Rice brings a different version of this beloved new girl turned plastic to life. Having never attended a real school, Rice’s Cady moves from Kenya to Chicago with her mother (Jenna Fischer) and enrolls at North Shore High School.

Upon arrival, Cady meets artist Janis ’Imi’ike (Auli’i Cravalho) and her best friend Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey). The pair team up to befriend the new girl, only to be interrupted by the most feared, popular clique in school: the plastics.

Led by Regina George (Reneé Rapp), Karen Shetty (Avantika) and Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood), the plastics invite Cady to sit with them at lunch for the entire week.

Janis and Damian decide to use this situation to their advantage, convincing Cady to befriend the plastics and ruin Regina’s life.

The entire cast does an incredible job at bringing something new and fresh to these iconic characters. There isn’t a single dull moment or weak performance, but the two standouts are definitely Rapp and Cravalho.

Rapp, who made her Broadway debut as Regina in 2019, reprises her role as the queen bee in the new film. Many fans of the performer already had high expectations for her role in the film, and her performance absolutely shattered them all.

Rapp brings a new energy to the character, somehow making her even scarier and more fierce than in previous adaptations of the story. She also has a phenomenal voice, delivering mind-blowing vocal performances throughout the duration of the film with songs such as “World Burn.”

Cravalho became known in the musical world for her performance as Moana in Disney’s “Moana.” The performance received recognition for her incredible vocals, and she continues to blow audiences away with her voice.

From “Apex Predator” to “I’d Rather Be Me,” Cravalho is most definitely a show stealer within this “Mean Girls” adaptation. She brings so much new life to her character and performance and makes Janis somehow even more iconic.

Spivey, Wood and Avantika are also standouts within the film, collectively stealing a majority of their scenes.

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Tina Fey and Tim Meadows both reprise their roles as Ms. Norbury and Principal Duvall from the 2004 film, and there is an incredible surprise cameo from another one of the original stars.

As a fan of both the Broadway musical and the 2004 film, I had high expectations for the new film. The story and the songs are both iconic, so it was exciting but scary to see how it would play out on the big screen.

A lot of changes were made to the lyrics, the score and even the characters who sang the songs, but, for the most part, these changes were great. They added a new, modern twist to the already incredible songs.

Despite these changes being mostly for the better, many songs were cut from the original Broadway soundtrack, which was disappointing.

The film did an excellent job of modernizing the hit classic and incorporating social media, without taking away from the power of a “burn book.”

A wonderful twist on the original film and the Broadway musical, “Mean Girls” is a perfect, must-see musical comedy for anyone who wants a fun theater experience.

Rating: 9.5/10

powers40@miamioh.edu