Mean Girls is a classic movie made in the 2000s to encapsulate the typical  “mean girl clique” schtick with fun sayings and an essential lesson at the end. The movie is loved by many generations alike and is known to define the 2000s as a whole

Recently, a new movie has been released more as a modern retelling of the original also known as Mean Girls (2024). Unlike the original Y2K hit, this movie is based on the musical produced by the original movie and even includes Renee Rapp, one of the women who played Regina George on Broadway. 

Both movies follow Cady Heron (more recently played by Angourie Rice) as she moves from Kenya to North Shore High School. While at school, she is originally approached by Janis and Damian (Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey respectively). 

Soon after, Cady meets the Plastics: Regina George (Renee Rapp), Gretchen Wieners  (Bebe Wood), and Karen Shetty (Avantika). The Plastics attempt to guide Cady through high school but slowly she becomes more and more “fake” as the movie progresses to the displeasure of Janis and Damian. 

While the new movie contains the same plot and characters, the biggest difference is the musical aspects added to the movie. Since the new movie is based on the Broadway musical, it contains musical songs such as “Meet the Plastics” and “Stupid With Love”. 

However, the movies changed up the original instrumentals and the complete aura around the song as a result. 

Racheal Reams (10) thought the music was “okay”, but “it was not the same as the original musical”. 

In comparison to the musical, the new songs and choreography added to the original storyline have also gotten mixed reviews from people who have seen the original Broadway production. 

Holdyn Westberry (10) saw the Broadway show. He thought “the writing was a little ‘eh’… and took some of the instrumental and changed them in a not good way. I think they could have done better”. 

With the new popularity of the movie, fans began noticing product placement within the film which changed the character’s personalities. One of these brand deals was Elf Cosmetics; fans have created a new trend as a result to mock the branding in the movie. 

Even so, Nevaeh Thetford (12) “did not notice” and “did not think it was bad” compared to other movies. 

With all the new changes and differences between the original and the new movie, teenagers alike have different views and opinions on the movie.

Cooper Christ (10) prefers the old movie for the “crude humor”. Without this humor, Christ believes the movie lost its spark in his opinion. 

All in all, this movie is a reasonable watch if you enjoy musicals and want to have the catchy songs stuck in your head for hours on end. The movie is currently being shown in select movie theaters but will be available on HBO Max later in the year. Now, go see the movie in theaters before it leaves. It would be so fetch of you!