Get in Losers, 'Mean Girls' is Back in Theaters
Movie-musical-remake highlights the most fetch parts of its predecessors.
By Em Sandis
Movie-musical-remake highlights the most fetch parts of its predecessors.
By Em Sandis
When thinking of the color pink, fetch and burn books, Tina Fey’s 2004 coming-of-age-classic “Mean Girls” is the first thing to come to mind for most. It took 14 years for the smash hit to go to Broadway stages with a soundtrack that was met with similar praise from fans of Fey’s film. Six years later on Jan. 12, Paramount Pictures released their movie musical version of “Mean Girls” that included the Broadway show’s earworms and a fresh cast for the big screen.
Because it is the third version of a well-known story, not many aspects of the story deviated from the original film. The movie tells the story of Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), an awkward junior who must brave the jungle of high school cliques and teenage drama after being homeschooled in Africa for the past 16 years. She finds comfort in the social pariahs Janice Sarksian (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey) who soon convince the socially dense Cady to join the clique called the “Plastics” after they take interest in her. The Plastics, the most popular girls at school led by queen bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp), slowly turn the socially-awkward Cady into shiny, fake, hard plastic through the film adaptation.
As one of the biggest changes from the original, most people looked at the cast to see how they performed, and the majority of the cast did not disappoint. The main showstoppers both musically and theatrically were Cravalho and Rapp with their songs “I’d Rather Be Me” and “World Burn.” The two really stole the show with their musical talents and sang performances worthy of the Broadway stage.
Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the film’s lead Rice, who gave a lackluster performance at best when compared to the rest of the bright, colorful cast. When it came to the song “Stupid With Love,” Rice’s performance was soulless and melancholy from the slow, droning tone that replaced the upbeat high-energy version of the original Broadway track. Her acting performance wasn’t anything to write home about either. Cady in the first half of the film is supposed to be diminutive and a pawn in Regina’s chessboard, and Rice pulled that off well. However, there is meant to be a change in character for her when she becomes a mean girl herself, yet Rice was never able to let go of the shy girl and the transition between the two Cadys would have been lost without her co-stars.
In terms of music, the film and the Broadway musical differed not in terms of quality, but in terms of quantity which is to be expected from the transition from stage to screen. But that does not diminish the fact that the songs were sung, choreographed and shot extremely well. It did feel like a proper marriage of the original film and the Broadway version taking the best parts of the two and combining them to make a solid film that fans can enjoy even after it leaves theaters.
“Mean Girls” is currently playing in theaters.
Because it is the third version of a well-known story, not many aspects of the story deviated from the original film. The movie tells the story of Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), an awkward junior who must brave the jungle of high school cliques and teenage drama after being homeschooled in Africa for the past 16 years. She finds comfort in the social pariahs Janice Sarksian (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey) who soon convince the socially dense Cady to join the clique called the “Plastics” after they take interest in her. The Plastics, the most popular girls at school led by queen bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp), slowly turn the socially-awkward Cady into shiny, fake, hard plastic through the film adaptation.
As one of the biggest changes from the original, most people looked at the cast to see how they performed, and the majority of the cast did not disappoint. The main showstoppers both musically and theatrically were Cravalho and Rapp with their songs “I’d Rather Be Me” and “World Burn.” The two really stole the show with their musical talents and sang performances worthy of the Broadway stage.
Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the film’s lead Rice, who gave a lackluster performance at best when compared to the rest of the bright, colorful cast. When it came to the song “Stupid With Love,” Rice’s performance was soulless and melancholy from the slow, droning tone that replaced the upbeat high-energy version of the original Broadway track. Her acting performance wasn’t anything to write home about either. Cady in the first half of the film is supposed to be diminutive and a pawn in Regina’s chessboard, and Rice pulled that off well. However, there is meant to be a change in character for her when she becomes a mean girl herself, yet Rice was never able to let go of the shy girl and the transition between the two Cadys would have been lost without her co-stars.
In terms of music, the film and the Broadway musical differed not in terms of quality, but in terms of quantity which is to be expected from the transition from stage to screen. But that does not diminish the fact that the songs were sung, choreographed and shot extremely well. It did feel like a proper marriage of the original film and the Broadway version taking the best parts of the two and combining them to make a solid film that fans can enjoy even after it leaves theaters.
“Mean Girls” is currently playing in theaters.