Mean Girls

 

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Mean Girls is an adaptation of the Broadway musical and the 2004 comedy of the same name. It follows Cady, a foreign exchange student who has to learn how to navigate all of the social cilques of a modern American high school. When the queen of the 'Plastics' Regina George takes Cady under her wing what results is a comedic revenge story that shakes North Shore High School inside out and upside down.

 

This film works so well because it takes us right back to that heightened jungle of a social system called high school. The colourful cliques that decorate this setting and how Cady has to navigate them, partiuclarly the Plastics is so much fun. This film is somehow a little more camp than the original, which in part does come from the music but also from the tightrope manner in which this film tries to broaden the comedy to a wider audience. I found a lot of hilarity in the extremely quotable lines, the musical numbers that are there to draw a laugh ('Sexy') and the extremely heightened setting where nonsensical rules and character archetpes are the butt of the joke. The movie really draws off the tone of the first film and recreates that fast and loose sense of comedy, where every scene can be pulled by a well set-up line or circumstance. But more than this Mean Girls still works because it manages to remind us that you don't belong in a box, there's actually something quite important about being more than just a stereotype. It's a movie that spotlights the misfits and gives you permission to be one; hell, it reminds you just how cool it is to be one.

The editing for this movie takes some frantic shots and an erratic sense of style and provides an incredible level of cohesion to it all. The film has to flow quite quickly in the musical numbers especially and the timing or pace in which this film is pieced together is probably the best choreography of all. More than this, even if the film doesn't always know how to write a young cast or setting the editing team actually shows a level knowledge of how to lend a modern social media aesthetic to this feature. I also enjoyed most of the songs in the film, there are some real character ballads in this often headlined by the incredible Reneé Rapp and Auli'i Cravalho. Some of the best numbers stood out in a best way and highlighted why a film musical worked for Mean Girls, numbers like 'Sexy', 'Someone Gets Hurt', 'World Burn' and especially 'I'd Rather Be Me' were brilliant.

 

Reneé Rapp, who played Regina George, brings a Regina to life who feels much harsher and grounded than McAdams; Rapp really embodies this effortless confidence that sells her as the queen of this fictional high school. Avantika, who played Karen Shetty, very much gives Seyfried a run for her money in my opinion; Avantika still finds the comedic beats of the more 'ditzy' Plastic and she also wields her role's sexiness like a comedic tool in a way that doesn't undercut her. Bebe Wood, who played Gretchen Wieners, works well as the most high-strung member of the Plastics; Wood really lends herself to Gretchen's self-worth issues and constant state of anxiety.Busy Philipps, who played Mrs. George, was a real delight in her scenes; Philipps really ran with the Mum trying to impress her daughter's young friends bit to incredible effect. Tim Meadows, who played Mr. Duvall, gives the tired and dour principal role a great deal of justice; Meadows sense of comedy works subtly and quietly but is an important aspect of this feature. Lindsay Lohan, who played the Mathletes Moderator, gets to return to Mean Girls in quite a tasteful fashion; I enjoyed the little quips Lohan got to deliver and the passing of the torch sort of sense the scene evoked. Ashley Park and Connor Ratliff, who played Madame Park and Mr. Rapp respectively, were brilliant elements of the comedy ensemble in this film; Park and Ratliff each trying to stay trendy with the students to comedic effect was hilarious. Mahi Alam, who played Kevin Ganatra, wasn't in this movie too much but was extremely funny in the scenes he was in; the way Alam went absolutely all in on some of his role's gags in the final act was perfect.

However, the best performance came from Auli'i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey, who played Janis 'Imi'ike and Damian Hubbard respectively. These two start the film off as not only our introduction but also our guide to this film, they're not narrators but rather how we come to see the world of this Mean Girls. I enjoy the comedy that comes with Spivey, he leans into sassy quick wit that results in some exceptional one liners. If there's a comedic powerhouse in this movie it's Spivey by a long way. I also adored Cravalho being this angry artsy lesbian who feels entirely rejected by the school culture she's in. Coming to see this character as a vulnerable person who is so upset by the betrayal of Regina (Rapp) and later Cady (Rice), we really empathise with the hurt she experiences. I loved seeing Cravalho wear her anger, her excitement for revenge and even her character's pain so openly and honestly. I have to commend both Cravalho and Spivey though, they work phenomenally as best friend duo and in some ways are the real heroes of this Mean Girls tale.

I really feared for this movie when I started watching it, I genuinely felt like they had taken everything that made Mean Girls so brilliant and warped it severely. I say this because the first act is quite messy, it doesn't blend musical elements and comedy film elements well at all; with the musical numbers often feeling like intrusions than moments that are meant to happen. More than this, the story is just a safe retelling, outside of the music the movie isn't trying to tell anything very different; the jokes or plot elements either land exactly the same or fall flat on their face. An aspect of this is because the film creators clearly don't have their finger on the pulse of what a current high school setting or social media landscape would look like. There are a number of jokes, lines and visual elements in this movie that pulled me right out because it felt like something an older person would hypothesize young people say, act or look like. The storyline around Cady and who she was as a person feels a lot more underdeveloped, her interest around Aaron is her guiding bolt for most of the movie. Yet, this romantic subplot isn't particularly unique nor smattered with chemistry and without all that it leaves our protagonist feeling like one of the least interesting aspects of this whole storyline.

Mean Girls is a movie that jumps around in style, which is ironic given the original is a pretty clear cut aesthetic comedy piece. But this movie veers all over the place. There are musical numbers where the framing cuts out whole aspects of choreography, glaringly bad fisheye lens close-ups and multiple inconsistent points where the way the camera is utilised shifts entirely. The result is a very choppy final production that is only salvaged by a clearly talented post-production unit. I also have to reiterate where things went wrong in act one with some entirely tragic musical numbers that almost made me write this whole thing off, specifically 'What Ifs', 'Stupid with Love' and 'Apex Predator'.

Angourie Rice, who played Cady Heron, really struggles as a protagonist in a musical comedy; not only does Rice struggle to ever shed the wallflower archetype for Cady but she also really can't sing strongly. Christopher Briney, who played Aaron Samuels, is quite a dull love interest role; Briney doesn't really give much to this character so it's hard to see much of anything resembling a personality from him. Jenna Fischer, who played Ms. Heron, is a bit too meek to leave much of a mark on this film; more disappointingly I didn't really believe Fischer was the profession she was playing nor has much of a mother/daughter relationship with Rice. Tina Fey and Jon Hamm, who played Ms. Norbury and Coach Carr respectively, are some of the dullest members in the ensemble which is a surprise given their extensive comedic and acting backgrounds; Fey in particular is a letdown given her long attachment to Mean Girls and her part in creating this one.

Could've crashed and burned after that opening act but somehow managed to land on it's feet. I would give Mean Girls a 6.5/10.