The iconic “Mean Girls” has been revived as a new movie musical that hit theaters on Jan. 12. Fans of the musical were excited for its release, but confused when they saw the trailers did not showcase any songs from the musical. Instead, they played “Get Him Back!” by Olivia Rodrigo.
Movie musicals usually don’t perform well in theaters, so by tricking audiences into buying a ticket to a classic remake rather than a movie musical, they could sell many more tickets. It earned them a lot of money, but it also plummeted their ratings. Unknowing viewers complained that this wasn’t how to do a modern twist on a movie or that the singing was too random and gave the movie one star, completely unaware that the whole time it had always been a musical.
All movies are shorter than their musical counterparts, but they decided to cut the iconic song “Where Do You Belong?” meant to introduce Cady to the idea of cliques. Just about any song cut would make a true fan cry in anger, other than “It Roars” of course, which was a good cut. They removed nine songs in total most of which sung by the protagonist, played by Angourie Rice, but then they decided they needed to write two more songs, “What Ifs” and “Not My Fault”. Most of the songs cut were sung by the protagonist Cady, played by Angourie Rice.
Most of the actors in this movie did a great job singing, but the biggest disturbance was the differences between the songs in the movie and the musical. Yes, lyric changes in an older movie are understandable, but making “Stupid With Love” that slow didn’t match the tone of the lyrics. Rice didn’t give viewers the falling-in-love energy that was needed, but just sounds bored when it’s slowed down. With the combination of the slowed songs, her high notes being given away and her solos cut from the film, it sounds like maybe she can’t sing very well. It was an unusual choice to cast her as the lead in a movie musical seemingly out of her vocal range.
The most notable actress in this movie was Renee Rapp, who has experience with Mean Girls and the character Regina, as she played the character on Broadway from 2019 until the 2020 COVID shutdown. Her singing is powerful, and “World Burn” might be the best song of the movie because of it. Everything about the song is captivating, from her singing to the scene itself. Right at the height of the film when all of the girls in the school fight like animals over the burn book, and the fire alarm is pulled causing flashing lights all over the school.
For a movie rated from 2.3 stars, 58 percent and 6.4/10 across different movie rating platforms, it managed to make $28.65 million in its opening weekend. Because the original movie is so iconic to all ages and the musical is well-loved, it’s understandable, but without the trick with the music in the trailer, it probably would be much lower.
Even with the notable Elf makeup product placement, the movie was fun, even with a few of the changes and disappointments that are bound to happen with the production of a remake. It was great to see these iconic characters come back with new dialogue and give Cady’s other friend Janis a real background and a storyline that she deserves.
Musical fans, I know some of it will be different but it’s still a good time. Fans of the original movie might enjoy but you have been warned, there is music, but have an open mind.
