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People love to complain about films these days. I found it funny when this film came out that loads of people moaned about the fact that a classic teen movie was being remade. Obviously, it’s not a remake but a film of the musical. Yes, there is an argument against making a stage musical about a film based on a book. However, that wasn’t the point that people were making. I can’t say that I was that bothered about the the musical when it was first staged but I was intrigued by the film version. I didn’t necessarily want to pay to see it in the cinema but I did kind of want too see it. I like Mean Girls to a certain extent but not enough that I was worried about its legacy being ruined. But would the story be improved with song? I wasn’t convinced but I also love a musical.

People don’t like musicals. Or, at least, that’s what Hollywood thinks. That’s why this film was marketed so badly. They were so afraid of showing any musical numbers that the trailers just didn’t reference them. It’s actually no wonder that people thought it was a remake. That’s what the marketing team wanted you to think. It’s also a reason why so many people probably didn’t like this film. Imagine going to see a film that you think is a straight remake of a Lindsay Lohan film only to be hit in the face with a musical number in the first few seconds. If you aren’t a musical fan then you aren’t going to be best pleased at handing over your hard-earned cash to watch teenagers singing about everything.

I can’t say how faithful this is to the stage version but I know it will have cut some things. If only because the film isn’t as long as the stage musical would be. And what of the cast? It’s a bit of a mixed bag to be honest. Yes, it’s nice to see Tina Fey and Tim Meadows back and Lindsay Lohan’s cameo is fun. The film is in safe hands with Reneé Rapp as Regina George. It was a fantastic idea to cast an actor who played the role on Broadway. It’s just a shame they didn’t do the same thing for Cady. Angourie Rice is a fine actor but her vocals are a bit weaker. Again, I’m not a mega fan of the original but she’s no Lindsay Lohan. I just didn’t care about Cady that much. Maybe that was down to editing but I just don’t think you get to know her as much. The rest of the cast is sort of middling. Some of them are out of their depth while others do a worthy job. I do feel as though this could have been improved by only hiring training musical theatre performers.

In terms of the story, I did enjoy how the film was updated to account for the changes in society. There are some funny references to changing attitudes and some things have been left out from the original. Social media and technology also play a big part in the narrative. I think it does a good job of showing that girls will always find a way to tear each other down if they want to. I also liked the songs. It is an improvement over the original. It feels more natural that people just start singing their feelings than having a clunky voiceover but that’s not going to be an opinion that everyone will share. Although, for the most part, this film doesn’t feel particularly necessary. It’s like watching people acting out the original film, which is what it is.

It’s a fine film but it’s unlikely to go down in history the way the original has. It won’t create the same memes or take such a strong place in pop culture history. However, it was an entertaining enough film. The same issues with the original exist and others arise. Then again, some of the problems are resolved. It’s not one that I’ll probably watch again any time soon but I don’t completely regret watching it.