The remake of Mean Girls is in theaters, but did it make Fetch happen? This isn’t your average remake. Instead of being based on just the original movie, this remake emulates the Broadway musical that came out in 2018. Which means… they sing.
You probably know the plot. A girl named Cady (Angourie Rice) transfers to a high school in the Chicago suburbs after being homeschooled in Africa her whole life. She has to figure it all out while dealing with classes, crushes, and cliques. She eventually “befriends” the Plastics: Regina, Gretchen, and Karen who are described as shiny, fake, and hard.
Cady eventually gets herself into some hot water when she is suspected of being involved in writing the Burn Book that belonged to the Plastics and was full of rude comments about everyone in their school.
In this movie, Tina Fey, who wrote both movies and the musical, did a wonderful job of refreshing this cult classic.
This movie was a fun new take on the original. It was able to keep the charm of the 2004 movie while also standing on its own. It included plenty of updates since it seemed to be set in modern times instead of the days of flip phones and Toaster Strudel.
It includes social media and a lesson about how fast rumors can spread because of a text or picture. It also excluded some iconic scenes or quotable jokes from the original movie and added some new ones, which makes sense since it was a film adaptation of the musical.
The songs were extremely fun and they advanced the plot very well. For example, “World Burn” sung by Renee Rapp who plays Regina George in the movie and also played her on Broadway, was an absolute show stopper and captured the effects the Burn Book had on the high school students without having to spell it out in a scene.
“Revenge Party” includes a lot of good choreography, bright colors, and confetti.
Finally, Auli‘i Cravalho’s number “I’d Rather Be Me” was a flamboyant and energetic way to tie everything together. There were no songs that seemed like a waste of time even though there were plenty of numbers from the original musical cut from the movie.
The songs were mini music videos with wonderful visual effects. They were bright, flashy, and creative. Every time Regina entered the room, the lights flickered a little, which was a clever touch. The songs also served as scene-changing devices almost like a real Broadway show.
This worked because it didn’t feel like the characters broke out into song for no reason. This particular movie isn’t groundbreaking. It is a remake of a remake after all. But the movie itself is a fun, feel-good, and, yes, — fetch — way to spend two hours. You go, Tina Fey!
