[Warning: This review contains spoilers.]
First things first, I want to clear the air. I found myself enjoying this movie. Yes, I have seen the original “Mean Girls” movie, however I did not see the broadway musical version. Very quickly, I realized that this was more of a film version of the musical and not just a modernized version of the original movie. I was very happy to see this because I have had enough of film reboots and continuations. So, when I saw that this featured content, such as music or extra characterizations that weren’t in the original movie, it made me appreciate what this movie was trying to accomplish. Now, what was it trying to accomplish? Well, I believe that it wanted to prove this point:
While school’s social dynamics have changed its platform, the intention and result are still the same.
I am on the bandwagon that believes this movie modernized its original self very well. I genuinely believed this took place in 2023-24 through the natural incorporation of things that take place in our modern day. For example, here’s two fake lines of dialogue to show what I mean:
“L-O-L! This is going to bang on Facebook.”
“You never opened my TikToks.”
This is more extreme, but it’s fair to say the first one is a bad example of modernized language. To have dialogue that is meant to exist in a modern space, you have to be subtle, and above all else you need to build the main purpose of what the character is trying to get across. Then, after you have a good structure of the characters point, you can add the modernization after while not detracting from what they are saying. In short, don’t build a sentence with modernized slang in mind.
Other things that I liked about the movie were that it did not feel like it had any slow pacing, but this did come at the cost of cutting 14 musical numbers from the movie for the sake of “tonality” (being kid-friendly). There may be some songs that could be cut for flow, but 14 of 21? That’s practically 66% of the original musical’s soundtrack that isn’t in this adaptation!
Regardless of all the hate I see it getting online, I still found the new “Mean Girls” movie to be an enjoyable experience featuring some funny moments. Whether or not the internet hates a movie, go see it yourself and draw your own opinions. Support local business and support local theaters.
Final Rating – 7.4/10
