Mean Girls Review: Reneé Rapp Slays As Regina George In Otherwise Charmless Remake

Back in the early 2000s, "Mean Girls" was nothing short of a phenomenon — the sheer number of quotes it generated would make your head spin. It became a Broadway musical and, since time is a circle, is in cinemas again 20 years later. But as much as directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.'s adaptation claims to be "not your mother's 'Mean Girls,'" it pretty much is, aside from the new musical numbers. Almost the entire production is a beat-for-beat remake of the original — except a little bit worse. Only a few standout songs and the irrepressible talents of Reneé Rapp save it from descending into truly dire territory.

Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is a teenage girl who, having grown up in Kenya with her scientist mother (Jenna Fischer), isn't exactly well-acquainted with the social hierarchy of an American high school. With the help of outcasts Janis (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey), she gets a crash course on the world of teenage cliques and an ominous warning about the trio of popular girls referred to as "the Plastics," led by queen bee Regina George (Rapp). When she catches their attention, they invite her to sit with them at lunch — the Golden Ticket of all high school interactions — which Janis sees as an opportunity for Cady to infiltrate their group, gathering valuable intel on how to get sweet, sweet revenge against Regina. But the longer Cady spends with the Plastics, the more she gets caught up in the rush of popularity — especially when it means a chance to get closer to her crush, Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney of "The Summer I Turned Pretty" fame).

From her very first entrance, it's clear that Reneé Rapp is the star of the show. She has a feral energy that brings something different to the role. She easily lives up to Rachel McAdams' iconic performance in the original film, bringing to this Regina a fantastic set of pipes and a sense of humor that makes her likable in spite of everything. Her songs are some of the best parts of the film and help the 2024 "Mean Girls" establish an identity as its own thing. Karen (Avantika) and Gretchen (Bebe Wood) both get their moments to shine as well, bringing effervescent energy to their roles as co-dependent sidekicks whom you can't help but become attached to. For Aaron Samuels, the production could do much worse than Christopher Briney, the floppy-haired It Boy of the 2020s (into every generation one is born), even though it's hard to believe that he and Angourie Rice ever made it through a chemistry read. Janis is also a lot of fun and comes across as less mean-spirited than her 2004 counterpart — she even gets one of the film's best songs (would you expect anything less from the girl who got her big break playing Moana?)

The biggest weakness of the "Mean Girls" remake, I regret to say, is the massive gaping void at its center: Cady Heron. Whether the musical version of the character is just too thinly written or if Rice is merely overshadowed by the bigger personalities of her co-stars, it's difficult to say. But this interpretation of Cady has absolutely zero presence. Her songs are all thin, reedy, and overly earnest, which is where "Mean Girls" has the biggest tendency to fall flat. Rice does her best, but it makes you appreciate what a unique quality Lindsay Lohan had as a teen actress.

"Mean Girls" is at its most fun when it lets itself be a full-on musical rather than a reenactment of the greatest hits from the original film. There are frenetic, animalistic dance numbers that use the high school sets to great effect, capturing a wild energy that gives the adaptation a visual style and atmosphere all its own. It's less successful, however, when it insists on repeating word-for-word the crowdpleasing scenes from the original film. Who benefits from seeing someone else do the "Four for you, Glen Coco" bit, as though anyone else could recreate the same magic from when we first saw the scene? Ditto for the "She doesn't even go here!" later in the film. Unfortunately, Jaquel Spivey as Damian is often saddled with these lines, and he's talented enough that it feels like they should have been creative enough to come up with more original moments of glory for him.

Is this version of "Mean Girls" a trainwreck? Not at all. It's got plenty of great songs and will likely satisfy die-hard fans, especially those who are familiar with the musical, which it does a genuinely solid job of recreating. But for long stretches of the film, it's a pale imitation of the beloved original, dutifully depicting its most famous scenes without managing to capture the flash-in-the-pan magic of the 2004 "Mean Girls." Still, it will hopefully serve at least as a launching pad for Reneé Rapp, who steals the show and genuinely deserves to go on to bigger and better things.

"Mean Girls" premieres in theaters on January 12.