The main question I asked myself during my screening of Mean Girls (2024) was if a musical remake of the iconic 2000s film was necessary.

I’ll cut to the chase — It really isn’t. But it IS a hell of a lot of fun, and for those of us who might just need cinematic comforting, that is more than enough.

This iteration largely follows the same plot beats. Cady Heron is a meek, mild girl who moves from Africa and starts public school after years of home-schooling. But she soon gets a lesson on cliques when she meets the Plastics, a group of popular girls led by the popular and petty Regina George.

What starts as a mission to take down the school’s most malicious titan soon turns Cady into someone she doesn’t recognize. Mean Girls (2024) recycles some of the same material, but also tries to differentiate itself a bit. It doesn’t always work, but there is a noticeable effort.

One hit-or-miss is the music — Some of it is endlessly catchy and meme-worthy, while the rest of it just doesn’t land. Lead actress Angourie Rice is a fantastic actress with a flat vocal range.

It becomes most notable when Renee Rapp — in a star-making performance as Regina George — commands the screen with every note. She and Jaquel Spivey as our new Damien are the indisputable highlight. Busy Phillips is also a riot as Regina’s mom, a role made iconic by Amy Poehler.

The supporting cast of Auli’i Cravalho, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney and Jenna Fischer are serviceable, if not memorable. Avantika gives us a hilarious new take on Karen, and Tina Fey and Tim Meadows return in their roles from the original.

Overall, Mean Girls (2024) is a film that didn’t need to be made, and it doesn’t improve on a classic. However, if it serves as a way to get a younger generation talking and allows others to revisit the 2004 film, maybe that’s all it really needed to do. For my part, I really enjoyed a fresh — if not breathtaking — take on characters I love.

3.5/5 Stars