If second hand embarrassment is your thing, I highly recommend going to see Tina Fey and Nell Benjamin’s newest rendition of the ever so popular “Mean Girls”. The amount of gasps and groans I heard over the musical numbers speaks for itself in what a let down this movie ended up being. Now, I won’t say that the whole thing was bad, but my ever growing urge to walk out of the theater after hearing Angourie Rice sing for the umpteenth time, I could’ve gone without.
The film is a musical remake of the 2004 hit starring Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan, which still holds an iconic place in the hearts of young fans.
In terms of talent, the voices were good, with the amazing Reneé Rapp playing Regina George herself, but even that couldn’t save the detriment of lazy writing that this film fell victim to. I am all for movie remakes, but when you do the exact same movie and add in music from the literal musical to avoid it being a carbon copy of the original, then I could have done a better job at it than you.
Admittedly, it is very hard to come after such a well praised flick such as the original “Mean Girls”, but it is also very hard to screw it up this bad.
The lines were weirdly written and delivered, the camera shots made some of the scenes really uncomfortable, and… dance numbers? It is a PG-13 version of “High School Musical” and still managed to be bad.
This movie felt like a dream that makes no sense after you wake up. I am still trying to figure it out.
Unfortunately, this film was another “what high school is like nowadays” written by someone who hasn’t set foot in a high school in 20 years. The outfits, the actions, the usage of slang, are all forced and uncomfortably added to try and be relatable to the young adults of today. You would think they would ask teenagers about what school is really like, but no, let’s do it based on what we think. Maybe the graduating class of 2004 will get a laugh out of this movie. Maybe it was, and I hope for quality’s sake that it was, their goal for this disaster.
The only redeemable quality this movie has is the wonderful work of Jaquel Spivvey as Damian Hubbard. Spivvey was the only actor in this movie that didn’t make me feel like I was watching a film produced by a high-schooler.
I mean no ill-words at the work of the rest of the cast, as they are all talented in their own ways and in other works I love, but this movie they just fell short on. Whether it was the acting, the cinematography, or the music videos in this movie, I was never invested. I can faithfully say that I will never watch this movie, willingly, ever again.
