Welcome back stinkers! Today is the day I give you my review on the recent Mean Girls. I have been introduced to the Mean Girls movies recently, and I have actually watched the original one for the first time a week prior. I am currently playing catch up on some 2024 titles, and I just thought it would be great to start with a review for Mean Girls.
Non-Spoiler Review
Now I think I had more fun than some other people with this movie. I do have to say, a lot of this felt very forced. From the musical numbers, to even some of the acting/writing. I still had fun with some chunks of the movie though. I’m not going to lie, I enjoyed a few of the musical numbers in here. There’s even one that’s been stuck in my head. My main problem from the movie though is that the movie skipped over a few emotional beats. Through the many adaptations this story has now gone through, it feels like at this stage its lost something that the original had. This movie loses some of the charm from the original, but at some moments the movie created some of its own charm. What this movie has going for it, was that it was just fun. I found that often times this movie put a smile on my face. I also enjoyed a good chunk of the characters in here, there might be a few that I might like more than the original.
Stuffed Musical Sequences
Now I mentioned that the musical sequences in here felt stuffed. That’s very much true, but I also have to say that I had some fun with some of the musical sequences. Janis and Damian were definitely the highlights. But the music in here felt forced. One or two might’ve been fun, but it felt something like glee club. For the most part they were just singing what they were doing. In a good musical, the musical sequences would usually progress the story. You could convey a lot of emotion through musical sequences. Here it just felt like the put the scene on pause to do what they got to do, and it didn’t change anything. They just ended up singing what was going on in that moment. That almost just makes the movie feel longer. They might’ve added some fun to the movie, but it also didn’t add a lot of emotion to the movie. The movie even skips some emotional beats later on, but I’ll get into that later.
Janis and Damian
Now that my small non-spoiler review is out of the way. This is now when I like to talk more in depth about the movie. I further elaborate on some of my thoughts, and even walk into spoiler territory. So, you have been warned. Now Janis and Damian carried the movie for me. They had some of the most fun moments throughout the film. I loved the two musical numbers they were a part of, being Apex Predator and Revenge Party. Earlier I mentioned that the movie loses some of the charm that the original movie had. I also mentioned that the movie was able to create some of its own charm for me. Janis and Damian are the characters that delivered most of that new charm. I love the chemistry between these two characters. Circling back to the musical numbers, I found the ones that they were in very fun. They were still very forced; I’m not going to forget about that. I just often found a smile on my face when these two were on screen.
The Plastics
Now the plastics in here were nothing really special. They were just there to try to progress the story. Yet that was barely the case. I don’t like to assign blame to anyone, but if I had to, I might have to blame the lack of emotion to the plastics. I already mentioned that this movie skipped a few of those emotional beats, and I think if you dwindle it down, it ends up at the plastics. In the original they’re what drove Cady to where she was, but in here, things just felt a bit rushed. That’s when the movie starts to lose some of that charm. You know, it’s all connected. The plastics rush a couple things. It’s not only them. I get that. Then when things start to get rushed, that’s when it starts to skip some emotional beats. Making this movie feel a bit emotionless, and a bit of a lack of substance. That’s just my opinion.
Cady Heron
Now the last thing I wanted to talk about was our main character, Cady Heron. Now I think Angourie Rice did a fine job as Cady. I just didn’t take away anything completely special from this movie. Which isn’t really her fault. When it came to her character, I think it felt pretty much rushed. Which isn’t her fault. She just falls victim of the things that I listed before. It might’ve just been me, but I also didn’t sense a whole lot of emotion from her character. I guess this is where I could mention the impact that the original one had. You had Tim Meadows and Tiny Fey return as their original characters. I wish they could’ve had more of a purpose in here. They were actually pushing along the story in the original, it just feels like this time they’re just there. At the end of the day, I am always going to enjoy these two on screen together. Also, if you didn’t know, Lindsay Lohan makes a cameo in here. That was something that came off as forced to me. A lot of that cameo stuff just felt on the nose, and it felt like they were being clever, but I didn’t really dig it.
Review Recap
That’s going to do it for my review on 2024’s Mean Girls! I had a few guilty pleasures throughout the film when it came to its musical sequences. At the end of the day, this movie felt forced, and emotionless due to the lack of the charm and emotional beats. Janis and Damian do start to create their own sort of charm, but that just doesn’t balance for me. Again, those two were the highlight of the movie for me. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to catch up on another movie review! I know it’s shorter than others, but I just wanted to start going through some 2024 movies that I missed, and I thought I could review it here for you. Make sure you check out The Big Stinker Blog for more coverage on movies, TV, and gaming. It’s also here where you can find more reviews, and even some breakdowns. So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.