Story: When Cady moves from Kenya to the US, she’s embraced by ‘The Plastics,’ an elite group of high school students. But when she falls for Aaron, Regina’s ex-boyfriend, tensions escalate swiftly.
Review: The film is based on Rosalind Wiseman’s book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” which inspired the stage musical “Mean Girls”, preferring a light-hearted tone to a serious one. It remains true to its core message and target audience and isn’t afraid of making fun of itself. Packed with laughter, this makes it more adorable in the musical format. Nonetheless, fans of the original 2004 movie might find it unoriginal. Even though there are no groundbreaking aspects brought out; it rather sticks to what those who know teens well would read about or see as comedy timing for Gen Z only. Nevertheless, develops as a moderate piece because of them.
The main character in this movie is Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) who has just moved from Kenya with her mother to America. In her new high school, she meets the “The Plastics” clique headed by Regina (Renee Rapp). But things take another turn when Cady starts having romantic feelings for Aaron – Regina’s former boyfriend thereby exposing her to further assaults from Regina. She decides together with her friends Damian (Jaquel Spivey) and Janis (Auli’l Cravalho), that it is time to face Regina head on after all which ends up in an ugly catfight between them. Alongside revenge against Regina, Cady also discovers herself and realizes the importance of accepting others for who they are.
This film fails to fully portray Regina as truly mean-spirited thus being its biggest drawback. Instead, some elements that indicate mildness or even harmlessness are featured by audiences while watching her behavior. At no point does she exhibit any of the typical traits associated with a really wicked, conniving and scheming woman. Rather, she appears to be more annoyed than malicious. This basic defect impacts directly on how Cady is depicted in the movie. The transition from her innocent, sweet appearance to a mean girl in the second half feels forced.
Although Angourie Rice does well as Cady Heron, it is not as strong as Lindsay Lohan’s portrayal in the 2004 film. Regina’s character is played by Renee Rapp outstandingly together with other girls that form “The Plastics”. Nevertheless, Jaquel Spivey (Damian) and Auli’l Cravalho (Janis) stand out among the whole cast of this movie who double up as its narrators also. Some songs such as “The Cautionary Tale”, are quite distinguishing among others. Despite this film struggling to meet expectations set by its original version; it has some moments that make it remarkable. In general, “Mean Girls” is an average film which only works at certain points.
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