Twenty years after the original, a new musical remaster of the teen comedy with the same name “Mean Girls” returns to movie theaters to rock the box office again. With the original being released in 2004, and a musical adaptation premiering in 2017, this year’s new adaptation combined the two into a musical-film. It dropped on January 12 and has already amassed $40 million at the box office.
Identical to the original, this year’s “Mean Girls” follows Cady Heron, and her rough introduction to American high school after being homeschooled in Kenya for years. She befriends an eccentric duo consisting of Janice ‘Imi’Ike and Damian Hubbard. They warn Cady to avoid the “Plastics” clique, which is made up of the unnerved Gretchen Wieners, the flighty Karen Smith, and the “queen bee” Regina George. But after Regina invites Cady to join them, things start to spiral out of control. Cady gets caught up in friend drama, school drama, and love drama.
Some audiences did not like the musical aspect, or were surprised by it. Others didn’t like the modernization of it, and the presence of popular apps like Tiktok in the movie irritated audiences or caused some cringe. Providing a critical insight was senior student Jessica DeLeon, who said, “I hate that it’s a musical but still, even without it, I think the original is better.”
Other than miniscule changes to characters names, minor edits in shots and scenes, the omission of things like Cady’s father and the four-way call scene, the film and story holds true to the original. Additionally similar to the original are the characters, the acting, the jokes, and the quotable dialogue. They all execute the vibes and iconic feel of the original while also giving it a modern twist. Senior student Tatiana Bedolla said, “I REALLY don’t like musicals, but the new cast for the Plastics are amazing.”
