Mean Girls review: Musical take on comedy classic is a surprising hit

Mean Girls is such a classic of the teen comedy genre it's one of those films that feels like it shouldn't be given the remake treatment, so it's a good thing Tina Fey has cleverly avoided risking the wrath of fans by returning to the hit not with a remake but an adaptation of its musical.

The film, which is also titled Mean Girls, follows much the same story as the Lindsey Lohan 2004 flick, it is focused on home-schooled student Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) who is then thrown into the crazy world of high school drama when she joins North Shore High School after spending years in Kenya with her mother.

Read more: Everything we know about the Mean Girls musical reboot

Cady soon comes to the attention of the Plastics, a clique of popular girls comprised of Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood), Karen Shetty (Avantika), and their leader Regina George (Reneé Rapp). Cady is convinced by new friends Janis (Auliʻi Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) to spy on the Plastics for them, only to become so set on taking down Regina that she begins to change as a result.

If the wheel isn't broke don't fix it, that is the motto that Fey appears to have taken when she wrote the screenplay for the musical film, because it doesn't veer too far away from the original film. That is no bad thing, of course, because the original is full of classic quotes and moments that work just as well in a musical context as they did in 2004.

Some aspects of high school life have been changed in the film to reflect modern times, the increased use of social media being one, but the story of cliques, seeking popularity, and high school bullies is something that will remain relevant to every generation. Fey has aptly created a new take on the story without alienating fans of the original, and in a way that will allow younger viewers to discover this fun story too.

The biggest different between the two Mean Girls movies, of course, is the music. The 2024 version adapts the Broadway musical in a big way, with composer Jeff Richmond and lyricist Nell Benjamin creating fun songs to bring the story to life.

Mean Girls is full of catchy numbers, Cravalho and Spivey are the highlights of the musical for not only playing their parts well but also serving as the narrators of the piece with glee. While Regina George's song Meet the Plastics is a great introduction for her queen bee character but it is the revenge track World Burn that stands out most for its hard-hitting lyrics and Rapp's striking vocals.

What other critics think of Mean Girls:

Variety: 20 Years Later, a Lively Musical Remake Still Has Something to Say (6-min read)

The Independent: An unsatisfying, culturally irrelevant musical rehash of a teen classic (3-min read)

Digital Spy: Mean Girls is a smart and funny update of the iconic movie (4-min read)

All in all, the new take on Mean Girls is a fun ride and if you loved the original then you're likely to enjoy the musical version just as much. There's little to distinguish the two —though there are some great surprises that we'd be remiss to reveal here— but it feels right for there to be two versions of the same story. Both the 2004 film and this iteration feel like they can stand side-by-side proudly because, in a surprising turn of events, the new movie is just as good as the original.

• 🎞️ When is Mean Girls out in cinemas: Wednesday, 17 January
  

• ⭐️ Our rating: 4/5
  

• 🎭 Who's in it? Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Tina Fey, Jon Hamm.
  

• 👍 What we liked: The music and choreographed dances, the story still works well twenty years later and has been adapted well to fit modern times.
  

• 👎 What we didn't: There is no fixing of the wheel here, so the story is mostly the same as the original 2004 film which may frustrate some viewers.
  

• 📖 What's it about? When home-schooled Cady Heron enters North Shore High School she soon comes to the attention of the Plastics, and is tasked with spying on them only to be drawn into their world and changing as a result.

Watch the trailer for the Mean Girls musical: