The 2024 movie schedule includes a new take on one of the best movies of the 2000s, and that film, of course, is the musical adaptation of Mean Girls. Promising that this “isn’t your mother’s” Mean Girls, the film takes the 2004 flick and its Broadway musical adaptation and meshes them together into a musical modern take on the early ‘00s classic. Now, the film has screened for the first time, and reactions to it – in the words of Gretchen Wieners – are so “fetch.”
As first reactions roll in, people are really loving the new take on Tina Fey’s brilliant work and the Mean Girls cast is being highly praised. Featuring a Disney princess and Broadway actors, this film is loaded with musical talent, and Victoria’s reaction on X highlighted that fact, as they wrote:
#MeanGirls is hilarious fun that is a delved different tone than the original. It’s a new birth of the original classic with new jokes and a fierce cast that grip their own spins on iconic characters. Renee is a fine Regina George that puts the itch in bitch. I had fun! pic.twitter.com/XK8AFMos9ZJanuary 5, 2024
For some context, the songs featured in this movie are not easy to sing. However, cast members, like Auli'i Cravalho (who voiced Moana and plays Janis in Mean Girls) and Reneé Rapp (who played Regina George on Broadway before taking on the role in the film) are more than up to the task. They also won over the hearts of those who saw the film, as Collider’s Perri Nemiroff posted:
The new movie is *very* well cast across the board but I've got to highlight two names in particular — Reneé Rapp and Auli'i Cravalho took my breath away. True powerhouses right there who seem to effortlessly command the screen whenever they're on it.What a great start to 2024… pic.twitter.com/bAoDuwFXpPJanuary 5, 2024
She also noted that the songs the cast sing are “well woven into the story,” and she “dug” how the new movie struck “the right balance” between honoring the 2004 classic and putting their own spin on Mean Girls.
Pop Culture Planet's Kristen Maldonado posted on X that we should get ready to “be obsessed” with this film. She also noted how the music from the Broadway show is worked very well into the movie, making it clear that this cast “rises to the challenge” presented to them between playing beloved characters and singing vocally challenging songs.
Get ready to be obsessed with #MeanGirls! They update the script & weave in music from the Bway show perfectly. Songs are top tier & musical numbers feel like you’re stepping into each character’s brain. There’s tons of Easter eggs & fourth wall breaking that is cheeky & fun. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/9ke2nF0ZSwJanuary 6, 2024
For Fandango’s Erik Davis, seeing Mean Girls was a family affair. He took his daughter to the film, and they both enjoyed it immensely. Like the others who screened it, he noted the updates to the story as well as the musically talented cast as the big reasons why this project is “fetch.”
The second we walked out of #MeanGirls my daughter turned to me and said, “Dad, you have no idea how much I loved that movie.” She just started high school, kids are being miserable to each other, and she told me it felt like the film was made specifically for her at a time… pic.twitter.com/UIhjjUaF91January 5, 2024
Fans have been flustered over this Mean Girls movie removing some songs from the Broadway show, and they haven’t been thrilled about it not being marketed as a musical. However, based on these reactions I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
I’ll leave you with this reaction from Nora Dominick, she pointed to one moment in the film that encapsulates all her positive thoughts about this new take on Mean Girls. She posted:
reneé rapp singing “world burn” got rousing applause in my screening of #meangirls (and her name in the credits at the end legit earned applause) i feel like that’s the perfect tease i can give 💖 pic.twitter.com/eitpBKjWVoJanuary 5, 2024
Watch the “fetch” OG Mean Girls with a Paramount+ subscription.
For those unaware, “World Burn” is an iconic Regina George song, and Reneé Rapp not only sang the song on Broadway, but she is also a rising pop star. Hearing her new take on the track is bound to be amazing, and as the BuzzFeed editor teased, it’s a showstopping sequence in a movie full of applause-worthy moments.
Overall, the first reactions to this new take on Tina Fey’s classic are fabulous, and they have me ready to get in my car and tell my friends “Get in loser, we’re going to see Mean Girls.” Luckily, we won’t have to wait long to see if we agree with these takes, because the film hits theaters on Friday, January 12.
