“On Wednesdays we wear pink!”
On Wednesday, January 17th, I was not wearing pink though I was blasting Taylor Louderman’s World Burn (an iconic song from the 2018 Mean Girls musical) on my way to the theaters.
Let’s start with the positives: The vocal performances are, by and large, phenomenal. The two obvious standouts would have to be Renee Rapp and Auli’i Cravalho.
Renee Rapp, a 24 year old singer from North Carolina, starred in the Mean Girls musical in 2019 at just 19 years old and was the director’s first choice for a reason. She was born to be Regina George. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been following updates on this movie for months in anticipation of her take on the iconic role.
And then there’s Auli’i Cravalho. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, that’s okay, but I guarantee you know her. In 2016, she voiced Moana in the Disney film by the same name. In Mean Girls (2024), she plays Janis ‘Imi’ike, Regina’s former best friend and proud outcast. When she and Damian sing about the various high school cliques, she makes it very clear that she isn’t a part of any of them. Her song I’d Rather Be Me is a feel good end to a film about trying to find yourself in spite of high school politics.
I went in with very low expectations. It’s difficult to shift something that is so magical on the stage to the big screen. And look, I can’t say that it was any better than I expected — it wasn’t. But I will say that if you’re looking for something goofy, something funny, something to kill a rainy day, then I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this movie to you.
