Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Mean Girls (2024) 

I have a lot of thoughts on this film I enjoyed the retelling of this through a musical but it has a mixed bag of things I liked and didn’t like. Now it can’t be understated how massive of an impact Mean Girls has had on pop culture since its release back in the 2000’s. It has been quoted, made into a Broadway show and referenced in countless shows movies and even music videos. That film was a perfect blend of comedy commentary on the teenage experience in high school greatly written by Tina Fey and star making performances from Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and Rachel McAdams. Now with this film I was very hesitant due to the massive cult status that first film has and the only way you can do to screw it up is two things making a cash grab sequel or a remake no one asked for. Now this film is a musical retelling and I tried to stay open minded about it because it had been a Broadway show for many years that was hugely successful so who knows maybe it could be a fun retelling for the new generation. Now did it live up to that expectation I made in my mind yes and no because is it fun absolutely it was but there are a a bunch of things I would have expanded on changed. Mean Girls I had a good time  with it’s just a bit of a fun mess. 

Firstly, Okay let’s get to the flaws first and get them out of the way. The film is so shallow with any characters that are not Regina George. Now one of the many reasons of what made the first film so great its ability to flesh out each character so everyone has their moment where we get to know a bit about everyone in the cast and see their all fully realized characters. With Karen and Gretchen the two minions of Regina George they took a backseat in this film and have barley any arc whatsoever they show up for a song or two but that’s really it and it upset me because those characters were big parts of the original film they had so much more to do and we got to understand their characters so much better. Here they are reverted to just side characters at best who barely get anytime for the audience to know who they are that’s not the actors faults that’s the studio and the writers fault not giving room to everyone it felt very insulting for people who are fans of the original to not see the updated versions be treated with the same respect. As now the second issue is the casting of the girl who played Cady now Lindsey Lohan perfectly captured that innocent wallflower like quality that was needed for her arc in the beginning then evolve it into the  revenge personality and then her becoming a plastic by accident loosing her personality in the process she was able to capture that so greatly within the film and you believed it as all three of those stages have to be done in a way that the audiences believe the transition she makes and also the redemption she has for herself by the end the film by making it up to her friends that she lost herself by trying to be popular. Now the casting of that role again you need someone who can believably pull that off and it’s not a knock at the actor who took on the role but I just couldn’t get into her playing Cady. Sure seeing the awkward fish out of water aspect of her in the beginning worked but when she becomes vengeful and tries getting back at the plastics I didn’t believe it. So the casting of her definitely was a big blow to the film as its not like she is some side character she is the leading role of the film so that was incredibly hard to get passed because as the audience were supposed to be behind her the whole film but again she didn’t fit the personality type for the character so I couldn’t invest myself in her as I just couldn’t buy into her. Then comes the themes of the film the film is supposed to be yes about the high school experience but also about how for girls its incredibly stressful and hard to find your place and you’ll do whatever you can to make sure you fit in and the original film showcased that beautifully. The retelling of this story seems to loose that message as yes it is in many ways a copy and paste of the original but that 2000’s version of the film really had personality and great performances and fantastic dialogue but this film is more focused on having great musical numbers which it does but the meaning of it gets lost in the style of it all. As sure the original had a ton of style but it never compromised the narrative for its look of the story though which this film feels like it definitely fell into. The film is fun but I feel it got to caught up in its own style and telling the important themes the original film is famous for and instead lost its soul in the process of what mean girls is all about. 

Secondly, The saving grace of this film is Renee Rap who plays Regina George incredibly well. Now I am not saying everyone did a poor job but the actors weren’t given much to do as the film really centres around Regina George and her story and leaves very little room left for other actors to shine which I didn’t think was fair. Their are some terrific casting choices in the film but their not given enough screen time to let the audience get to know them which is a shame but for what we are given Renee Rap shines greatly as the high school blonde from hell. She brought the traditional traits needed for the role but also brought some new attributes that made her stand out and it’s a solid performance that chews up the scenery. So that is all really to say about the cast as Renee Rap is the saving grace that keeps the film from sinking. And it’s a shame the other actors weren’t used to their full potential. 

Lastly, Mean Girls (2024) This a mess of a film that is still fun but there are so many flaws that the girls in the film  would themselves criticize. The film is not terrible it’s just this film is a feast with a big style that will captivate audiences but it’s lacking the sweetness of the original. There are big musical numbers but no heart behind it the film is a mix of both good and bad but there are more flaws then positives. Reneee Rap carries this film on her shoulders with her strong performance in the film Mean Girls (2024) could of been a tremendous musical version of this classic film but instead resulted in messy execution Mean Girls (2024) Is not better then the original and is fun if you can ignore the flaws. I recommended people see this film. 

This film centres around Cady a girl looking to fit in and decides to try to fit in by befriending the most popular girls in the school who are notoriously known for being terribly brutal. 

Rated PG - 13 : Strong Language|Sexual Material|Teen Drinking

Renee Rapp :  Rapp is is better than what this film deserves! This singer takes on one of the most well known teenage parts of cinema made iconic by Rachel McAdams. Renee also to be fair played this part on the broadway show so she was familiar with the character but regardless acting on stage and on film are too very different ways of capturing a character. She was able to capture the swagger and aura of what people have said about her. She is a character that is very much full of herself due to two factors one is her incredibly high ego she has just done herself but another is the reputation people have said about her so in a sense she has built a image she has to live up to. Now that being said she is choosing to go about her image in a very rude way that because she is pretty or slim she gets a pass at being incredibly mean to everyone around her which creates a false sense of reality which she lives in. Now Renee is able to tap into that mindset in such as great way she has a presence onscreen that lights up the frame and is able to convey so much through her tone what I mean by that is she can be saying one thing but her eyes and use of her tone is saying something else. Her ability to draw the audience in with her sheer ability to steal each scene is honestly so impressive. She commands the screen with a pink glittered filled fist and uses her charm to draw Cady in with such a polite nature but when the film progresses we see what her real self is like and she sheds more layers to her authentic self which is manipulative and rude and by the time Cady realizes just the sheer depth of how mean she really is it’s to late. She can cut through any person’s flesh with the way her words are used towards them and truly hurt their personality and her followers are like wounded dogs that get treated horribly but will go back and be loyal anyway. Rapp captures that queen bee aspect greatly while also showing how insecure she truly is about herself as she has to matin that image but it takes a toll on her and I love that quality to the character it dose not excuse her horrible behaviour but makes you better understand who she is though. Renee Rapp delivers a performance that is basically the devil drenched in pink nail polish while also giving her a bit of depth to her soul that is not strictly hate. She is hilarious, has a great singing voice, great depth to the character that keeps Regina fascinating but never felt like a copy of what Rachel Brought to the character so many years ago she put her own spin on the character that was fresh and captivating to see unfold onscreen. Renee Rapp is fantastic in a flawed film she is the best part of it. 

Samatha Jayne & Arturo Perez Jr : These two had never directed a film before and not to be rude but maybe don’t start with one of the most iconic films of all time as your debut as this was not a good first directed film by both of them. I am all for getting fresh new voices to direct films I think that is great now that being said a film that has such a massive cult following, Broadway show and been referenced to no end I don’t think it was the best choice to get unknown filmmakers to tackle such a beloved classic musical rendition. I think Rob Marshall would of done better with this film as at least he has experience with musical films as these directors have no credits to their name and I am not saying their terrible directors but they didn’t leave a good first impression for sure. As the film was pumped full of style but it never made me care about all of the characters sure I love Renee Rapp but you can’t rely on your lead in a massive cast to singly handily carry a film as that’s not fair to her and the rest of the actors involved as they never got their roles fleshed out enough for audiences to know them. So not only did they insult the beloved secondary characters and totally waste the talent of the rest of the cast but they also miss the message of what Mean Girls is about which angered me because it then at that point feels like a hollowed out soul of what the original did so well. It was all style no substance and is very evident in its presentation as you can’t distract audiences with big musical numbers to disguise the fact you have a paper thin way of telling the story. The directors lack the vision to bring this new take on the story to the screen and if in other hands would of been so much better as then the great musical numbers could be levelled with a solid screenplay as well as that is one of the biggest reasons why people loves Mean Girls is the quotes, the characters that all comes down to writing and amazing writing at that which this film shows none of. These two directors I hope can get better and really find their voice as this was not a great way to show their talents by taking on such a famous classic like this.