Mean Girls: Reclaiming Its Seat at the Cool Kids’ Table – Official Final Trailer and Cast Insights

Mean Girls

Mean Girls earns its seat at the cool kids table, behind the strength of an insanely talented cast, catchy songs, nods to the original movie and ageless lessons about life in high school . That still leaves the challenge of differentiating itself from the Disney Channel/teen-musical pack, but ultimately, it’s a ton of fun, a too-rare commodity whether that’s at the theater or streaming.
Tina Fey’s fingers are all over this adaptation of the musical spun out of the 2004 film as she and Tim Meadows repeat roles as a teacher and principal in addition to Fey’s screenplay and producing credits.
Nonetheless, directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. have taken their junior players – and the catchy, clever songs by composer Jeff Richmond and lyricist Nell Benjamin – and constructed a new film around them.
Its new Cady Heron is Angourie Rice , an alum of the recent, disappointing “Mare of Easttown,” educated in the ways of high-school as a comparative innocent in Kenya by her (dull, in this version) mother . Once stateside, she does and says the right things, but eventually spills some punch on an alpha girl.
After some unfunny scenes of her being dressed down, she is taken in by a pair of loud, pugnacious, reality-hating outcasts, Janis , and Damian . At first, interpreting her eagerness as condescension, they go along with her to be nice.
Simultaneously, the local veterinarian offers to initiate Yao into his personal club in Chinese. Then, three beautiful girls Chrissy Duprie , Nicole Flender , and Sara “Squiggle” Cawell invite the students to unwind at the petting zoo. The guys are not particularly interested in this idea, but the girls manage to interest them with the opportunity to take hallucinogenic aphrodisiacs. However, soon it will become clear that all eight students will have to face unexpected difficulties associated with their youth, education, relationships, etc.
Layne and Perez Jr. finely adapt it from stage to screen and into the 2020s, with viral videos that flit by at breakneck , occasionally a tad too breakneck, speed. However, the central relationships and themes are timeless, and the best of the music revels in the excitement, as well as the Fey-esque cheek toward musical customs.
“Mean Girls” joins the ranks of fine musicals from the last few years, including “The Color Purple” and the film-of-the-stage “Waitress,” with more , including the two-part “Wicked,” on the way.
The main challenge is distinguishing this product from the Disney “High School Musical” simulacra that can be enjoyed on Teen Nick and Disney+. But, honestly, it is probably sufficient to offer a young generation a new adaptation of “Mean Girls,” as well as the best ticket in the house for Cravalho’s of “I’d Rather Be Me” and Rapp’s “World Burn.” On that point, “Mean” recapitulates conventional stereotypes but nails the entire thing as a raucous event for two hours in the theater.