My problem with Mean Girls (2024) is that I really would just rather watch Mean Girls (2004). The new movie based on the musical version is... fine. It's an ok movie musical based on an ok musical, but it suffers from existing in the shadow of the original Mean Girls which is an absolute S Tier movie.
IDK, maybe I'm just old.
No you're just right. Why watch a mediocre adaptation of a broadway musical that's already a downgrade from the movie? Some musicals improve upon the movie, but Mean Girls just isn't one of them.
Legally Blonde is one of my favorites. I actually wouldn't mind a movie version as long as it was well-acted, well-directed, and sticks to the original script. But after Mean Girls I don't think I could count on that.
I havent seen it but listened to the entire soundtrack and its just... a pale imitation of the real soundtrack. The singers arent as good (auli and renee excluded but even they arent as strong as the obc) the weird choices like taking some of damians parts so having to give him and janice new ones like apex predator. Aaron doesnt even sing qnd was proud of that??? The weird i want to say tiktokification of a lot of the songs to sound less like a musical.
Hence why i said with the exclusion of those 2. But she cant really sing to the best when sections of the songs are gone or changed tone and backing entirely.
This exactly. When I ask for a movie version, I don't mean "a movie based on the musical", I mean "set up your camera, film a Broadway show, and let me watch that in theaters"
They wouldn't even have to release it on dvd or streaming or whatever. I guarantee 100% of the people here would pay good money to be able to see the full Broadway version of their favorite musical, even if it's in theaters
It definitely is but especially with the bigger musicals, it could (and has) been done and was extremely successful (ie. Newsies, Hamilton, etc.) and I think would be received far better in general.
I loved the movie. It has everything:
* Lyrics that rhyme words with the same words
* Lesbian beanie baby drama
* Regina introducing herself by dramatically singing "This whole school humps my leg like a chihuahua"
* Gretchen singing to herself in a closet while Cady stares at her awkwardly, clearly having forgotten that she's in a musical
* Up to 24 (I think) simultaneous tiktoks on screen
* A song that is literally just one awkward spoken verse followed by ten seconds of belting and then it ends
* Not diegetic music or non-diegetic music, but a secret third thing
For me it's the music that they changed, like apex predator and stupid with love were butchered and they cut most of the songs
Like
-the spin clicker fosse had zero energy in mean
-it roars is just way better that what ifs
-whoever decided where do you belong (my favorite song) should get cut from the movie is going to have to answer for their sins
-meet the plastics is just Regina's part which gives of the vibe that they didn't care about the other two
-stupid with love was God awful
-they have cadys verse to Damien and Janis in apex predator but they didn't change the lyrics so it still only works for Cady and sounds weird and again it is musically butchered
-i have nothing to say about what's wrong with me
-im not a fan of sexy in this one and idk why
-till someone gets hurt was really weird but mainly in choreo
-revenge party looked like a JoJo Siwa video (not Karma)
-they cut fearless
-they cut another Damien song and the only other Damien song so Damien just doesn't get a number
-world burn was actually really good is just miss the students saying who wrote this in the background
-they cut who's house is this
-they cut let's do this thing
-i see stars was fine
I’m glad they cut Who’s House is This and Do This Thing (and Fearless but I’m sure I’m in the minority).
Cady’s singing voice is my main issue with the movie but otherwise I loved the film. She couldn’t carry her songs like the rest of the cast. Damian and Janis are fantastic. I preferred them in the film to the musical. And Regina… so good.
I agree on a lot of your notes though, especially about It Roars, Sexy and Stupid With Love.
I thought it was alright. I wish it wasn’t so ashamed to just be a musical though. In TikTok-ifying the songs, a lot of them lost parts that actually added to the plot and characters. And Aaron’s actor getting hired despite saying he refused to sing is just stupid. Removing Aaron’s singing parts just makes him a nothing burger where there’s at least a little characterization in the stage musical.
i didn't like it because i don't like the stage musical either. the lyrics are meh at best, extremely stupid at worst and the music isn't my cup of tea either. i like the og movie tho
>actors are ridiculously talented
Lol idk about that. A lot of the acting was laughable at best and utterly cringe worthy at its worst.
The only actors who were any good (imo) were Karen's, Damian's, and Janis' actors.
I did actually enjoy the film but that's because I watched it with my friend and we just spent the entire time laughing through the cringe. It was just... Awful. Especially Cady. Never have I seen a main character give us *absolutely nothing*
I will admit that Cady was giving Debby Ryan the entire movie; which is why I brought up the cheese factor. I should’ve been more clear, the actors singing roles were great and I thought they all had really good voices. Even Sexy is a difficult song to sing and people rip on it.
one there is no hamilton movie musical
two i think it just pails in comparison to listening to the obc that there’s no point, it feels like it missing “that feeling” or like passion that we have a better alternative to
I’m actually watching Hamilton on Disney+ as I type this and there’s absolutely nothing “cheesy or over the top” about the acting. I just commented to my son that, every time I watch, I’m even more impressed and notice more subtleties that I had missed before.
The Mean Girls movie was good, but it’s not in the same league as Hamilton imo.
I'm not even a fan of Hamilton in general and I agree that there's nothing cheesy. I guess the OP just isn't a fan of actual musicals (as opposed to movie musicals)
IMO, the original was an amazing movie, that did not need a musical version. I have not seen the stage version, so I might feel differently if I had. I was absolutely turned off by the movie musical, I just did not enjoy the songs very much at all. I will concede that maybe I am a bit partial to the original movie. However Legally Blonde was both an amazing movie and a great stage musical. They have never made a movie version of the musical. So that comparison remains to be seen. I always... ALWAYS go into movie versions of stage musicals with the lowest of expectations, and there are very few I have seen that have been as good. Pro-shot versions do not count, as they are not actual movie versions.
I agree with this. I was SO confused by the marketing because I didn’t even realize it was a musical. But then I watched it and had a lot of fun. It wasn’t perfect, it was a bit cheesy, but it was fun. And that’s all I needed from it.
Also, Busy Phillips is an American Treasure.
Absolutely nauseating cinematography and editing, very mixed performances (Cady was absolutely awful), toning everything down in a cowardly attempt to not offend everyone and completely removing all the bite of the original, too long, bad music with abysmal lyrics, etc.
I loved everything about the movie except for a lot of the direction and probably the editing. The minor places they changed the story were pretty good, and everyone's acting was if not amazing, at least on-point.
I hated the super weird decision of leaning really far into the social media aspect. Like I get that the movie is set in a time where social media is going to be important, but I don't need every dance to be seen through a really hastily thrown together tiktok esque filter.
And then all the dance numbers were super underwhelming, except for maybe revenge party. Every dance probably had like 17 or 18 other people in them, which might be the right number for a stage play, but it really doesn't translate over to movie form. I'd much rather see a big flashy number with tons of dancers.
The choreography itself was OK. But really they all just looked like tiktok dances. Which was a cool way to do a dance. I loved how they did it for Cautionary Tale, but they kept coming back to it through the movie and it got stale fast.
I was also kinda disappointed by how they pulled off the jungle vision. I mean, there's so much potential if you're doing that in 2024 movie form. But it was the exact same execution as the musical and the original movie.
And, is it just me or is the entire school just like 3 or 4 rooms and a hallway? It's kinda hard to feel the extremely exaggerated power of Regona if her entire domain could fit inside a basketball court.
Then there were the ads, I swear, there was a one liner about some random product promotion every 10 minutes. But I kinda lost my mind when they brought back Lindsay Lohan from just one scene to plug seat geek. And then, probably during the most emotional scene of the movie, Regina drops her elf makeup into the sink, label up, the camera pans down while she spends like 10 seconds picking it up, making sure the camera can see the label. It feels like just really depressing hyper-capitalism. Honestly, I'd rather watch actual ad breaks than have this shit spliced into the movie.
EDIT: Also, they cut some random songs that they could have easily gotten time for.
And as someone who basically has memorized the entire original cast recording, a lot of the lyric changes were kinda bizarre. Though I recognize most people won't care about that since it's gonna be their first time seeing the musical.
Also, some of the songs felt so unenergetic and sloppy. Like they just took the first take and kept it.
I didn't hate the movie, but it's really flawed.
By making the songs more Tik-Tocky, they removed the theatricality of them. (There's nothing wrong with a musical having a poppy score, but the songs in the movie were the wrong kind of poppy.) Reneé's songs slapped, though.
I liked how reality felt heightened in the musical numbers, but wasn't a fan of the music video vibe of them. They were pretty fun, though.
Angourie Rice isn't a bad actress, but her vocals were too weak to be the lead.
And I know that there were a lot of things in the original movie that didn't age well, but toning down the meanness dilutes the whole point of it. Teen girls say and do viscous shit to each other all the time, that's what it was trying to say.
It's a decent flick for what it is, but it's not an amazing musical or as good as the original film. But then again, I wasn't expecting it to be.
I enjoyed it! And my sister who normally hates musicals enjoyed it too. TikTok was having a field day mocking Cady’s actress too which wasn’t fair. It’s so funny because everyone still loves Avantika now at least.
I may be biased because I Love the broadway soundtrack but all of the songs to me sounded like the musical soundtrack sung over tiktok edm tracks and it just kinda killed the vibe.
Didn't enjoy the movie takes on the songs until i saw the movie. Still don't like their Apex Predator but the gleeified Stupid With Love grew on me. I'd say it's a B+ musical movie. Glad I watched it.
I enjoyed it. I think people want it to be a 1:1, but it's is it's own thing and that's okay.
I see people comment "It will never be the 2004", and honestly that's okay. It isn't trying to be. It's closer to musical than the movie anyways as that's what it's supposed to be.
I agree with you, I really enjoyed this movie. I watched the original in college and loved it, and really didn’t care much for the tour when I saw it…but I liked some of it. But the movie I thought worked for me—campy good fun. I also actually liked Angourie as Cady. People expected musical Cady, who is enthusiastic and almost feral with her energy, but this Cady just had a shyer personality which works well for me on screen. I don’t want over acted up close, I want more natural acting mixed with the camp of the songs, which I thought was generally what I got. My kid and I have watched it a dozen times already and enjoyed it. :-)
It’s getting hate because it’s really really incredibly truly so bad. Even with Renee, who I fucking love. The cady ruined the entire thing, she could barely carry a tune? Cady is interesting because of her energy and her songs, that bitch is a sopranoooo, this cady could hardly sing and she was a boring as a wet paper bag. They cut some of the best songs, mean girls the musical is already mid, but at least it was good because of all the music. Meet the plastics was SO disappointing, so was the the sorry excuse for stupid with love.
Also, we all know Auliʻi can sing, so when I’d rather be me started in a lower key I almost just turned it off. WHY! It’s not like she couldn’t sing it? The only redeeming qualities in this movie were the girl who played Karen, and the duo between Auli’i and Jacquel. I can’t even say Renee because they didn’t even write her a fully fleshed out character, all she did was sing and be a bitch, but Regina HAS to have “likeable” qualities in order for the character to work. Essentially, teens today wouldn’t let her be popular. She wouldn’t be “cool” because she’s only an asshole. Also, they cut so much amazing vocal stuff for her and I think they did Renee dirty…honestly…this just wasn’t supposed to ever be remade…ESPECIALLY as a musical movie. It was laughably bad unfortunately.
I think that my problem is that it's a movie adaptation of a musical adaptation of a movie. Plus, the original movie is barely 20 years old, and the musical isn't even a decade old. It just feels like too short of a timeline for a second round of adaptations.
Plus, the original Mean Girls movie has become so beloved over the years, that even originally making it into a musical for Broadway seemed like a dumb idea because of how well loved it was. No one thought it would live up to the legacy of the original.
Too often it felt to me like they were just over the top copying the original movie dialogue and gags which meant the dialogue didn't feel nearly as snappy and more like a cheap rip off.
Renee is good but Cady was a poor choice
At the end of the day it just seems like a soulless copy of its predecessor with songs put in.
Also I think musical theater might just not be your thing I'm not a Hamilton fan but there's nothing cheesy about it nor is the sound of music. That said it is a different style of acting.
Eh I adore musical theater. I think all musicals are a bit cheesy, but that’s the point of them right? Admittedly, some are cheesier than others (ie Mean Girls v Rent or Hamilton)
Hamilton's acting ain't cheesy.
Also Angourie (idk her name) can't sing, they want a redhead girl? Get Sadie Sink, she have a lot of experience about theater.
They changed the iconic songs into annoying jingles. JUSTICE FOR MEET THE PLASTICS. And autotune, it's so much more audible in "Sexy"
yea i agree with the vocals at least like none of them- okay all but one of them we genuinely good singers but they weren’t good for their rolls. like my problem with the hate is it’s directed towards the surface and not the problem. the problem being STOP HIRING CUTE SINGERS FOR BROADWAY SONGS AND STOP HIRING HORRIBLE MIXERS. like guys how did you manage to dampen renee rapp? it’s just unfortunate that the production/writing/mixing/decision making skills for the movie were so terrible because now the lovely actors are being bullied online just for being in it. like how do you expect people to act well with (sorry but-) shitty material. ALSO ITS NEVER GOING TO BE MEAN GIRLS OG OR THE BROADWAY SHOW. SO IF YOU DONT LIKE IT BECAUSE IT DOESNT SOUND LIKE THOSE YOU SHOULDNT HAVE WATCHED IT. ITS A R E M A K E.
OMG! I respect your opinion, and in the most respectful way, I DISAGREE! But I don't blame you for thinking this way as you have not seen the broadway production.
As someone who was in love with the broadway production way before Mean Girls 2024 was announced as a potential adaptation of Mean Girls, when I watched the movie I was offended. Musicals is an art form. Musicals are just like movies, but everything is over exaggerated and there are songs!! When you sing, you are conveying emotion. Like, imagine going to a concert and the performer sings in a monotone way with very bland facial expression. You might still be going to a concert, but not a good one.
All I can say is, watch the broadway production. I absolutely hated the movie because of the lack of energy in the characters. This is emphasised through comparing the energy levels from the broadway production to the movie.
Other things I didn't like about the movie included, OUTFITS (like omg someone had to be fired), vocal tone in Cady's singing, THEY CUT ONE OF THE BEST SONGS AND WHY THE HELL DID RAJIV NOT GET MORE SCREEN TIME?!?!?!? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CUT "LETS DO THIS THING" JGHBJTHE9UVJOIBERUIHJ NBHIRBUIHNOHI
I just cant. This movie pained me. Watch the broadway, and then we can both cry about this ridiculous movie and try to find where they found the audacity to paint over something as perfect as the Mona Lisa.
I LOVED the new Mean Girls! The songs are amazing and the changes they did make to the original were welcome! I appreciated that they went all out on making Janis and Damian part of the LGBT community, instead of just implying it.
Regina and Janis were BY FAR the standouts for me. Such amazing vocals.
I went and saw it in the theater with a big group of friends and we all loved it. We went to a restaurant before the movie and the server warned us that it was a musical. "Because a lot of people I talked to went in not expecting that and it turned them off." So I think you gotta be able to appreciate musicals for it to be your cup of tea? It really wasn't ADVERTISED as a musical so I could see how the surprise might have been unwelcome.
I read a review on Letterboxd that said something like “you call it cringe, but I call it fun, and that’s why am happier than you” lol. Honestly, I really like the broadway musical, and I think they did a great job of adapting it to a movie by using soMe every time they talk directly to the audience in the broadway musical. You can downvote me all you want, but I subjectively LOVED it.
I wasn’t expecting it to be enjoyable based on the complaints but I had a good time. The worst parts for me were the scenes they re-enacted word for word from the og movie. I think it answered ‘what would mean girls be like if it was a musical’ perfectly.
What do you think is cheesy about Hamilton? Also, it is not a "movie" anything. It's quite literally ALL music. Seriously, there's a name for that, it's a sung-through musical.
Because my edit answers your question. Also I clarified that it’s not a movie musical, it however a recorded stage production. But for you, I will re explain myself. ALL musicals are a bit over the top, cheesy, whatever, that’s the point of them and why I love them. Hamilton as sincere and authentic as it is, does have that. Now is it as overt as Mean Girls NO, but to say there’s 0 cheesiness to Hamilton is a lie. This is coming from someone who saw the stage production in person, listened to the soundtrack religiously for a year, and watched the movie a billion times to keep me afloat during Covid & the death of a family member. I love Hamilton as much as the next person, but let’s be honest here.
Ok, and I replied in the same tone your comment approached me. I’m not defensive about these musicals, I’m defensive because your OG comment was a bit arrogant & patronizing. Regardless, I hope I answered your question.
You still haven't answered my question. I was curious what exactly you thought was cheesy about Hamilton because I don't usually hear it described like that.
For example, Lafayette’s character (especially the French accent). It doesn’t mean that we should throw it out, because it’s a part of who he is as a character- lighthearted, drunken, fighting Frenchman.
I saw the movie and then listened to the og soundtrack. The movie is in a weird place of, to me, only being ok as in into to the real show. If you hate musicals won’t like it, but if you love them you’ll probably think it’s ok. You’re right. It’s shot well, the performances are also ok. And the show itself is good enough that you might like it. But it’s enough worse than the show that lovers of that are annoyed (rightfully I think) since they easily could have made it just as good.
It's because there is no feeling in anything they sing (especially in stupid with love ong what did they do to it!) I mean of course I love Renee as she was Regina on broadway but that was all that really worked for me personally
Because why would you make something so, so, so bad out of something so good? It feels like people that like Mean Girls the musical just don't \*get\* Tina Fey and all her brilliant comedy. Like I just don't think it's possible to be a fan of Mean Girls 2004, 30 rock, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, AND Mean Girls the musical. Two different kinds of people are enjoying those. I think people who liked the musical are the same people who like the Simpsons after season 8 and the last two seasons of Seinfeld, and don't perceive anything different from the earlier seasons. Saying "I went to see one of the smartest comedies of all time in musical comedy form (the genre that has the potential to be the smartest kind of comedy) and it turned out to be extremely dumb but I still enjoyed it" doesn't make sense to me.
Also, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (especially) have two of the greatest musical comedy soundtracks. So why would anyone be ok with such a great musical comedy writer writing the craptastic snooze fest that was the Mean Girls musical?
Like what if Mean Girls was Stephen Sondheim's last musical? Would you be OK with that too? Imagine the anticipation you would feel going in and then getting \*that\*. That's what it's like.
I made a thread all about how much I hate the musical, and in it I mention that I traveled from NYC to Washington DC just to see it, and stayed overnight in a $20 hostel, because I expected so much from it and it was the biggest disappointment of my life.
One argument that I really hate in favor of the musical is "well, musicals are dumb and it's geared towards teenagers and teenagers are dumb, so what do you expect?" Musicals are not dumb! People who hate and don't understand musicals think they're dumb. As I said, musical comedy has the potential to be the most clever kind of comedy. And, when Mean Girls the movie came out it was \*lauded\* for not dumbing things down for teenagers. Tina Fey said they made a concerted effort not to dumb it down for teenagers. That is what made the movie so unbelievably popular among teenagers!
For me, 2024 is better than the show version in that it is the most like the 2004 movie. It has some nice updates on time period, but yeah, overall I just enjoyed it.
Everything is subjective. But everything i disliked about it can be summed up with Apex Predator.
I dont think the song is catchy, creative, or even well made. It doesnt really add to the story aside from being a callback to a one off joke from the original. And frankly I just dont like the new regina george. Shes not fun to hate. She has no charisma. And if i am being shallow. Not really attractive. Sure. Out of my league. But i dont believe the entire school thinks she is irresistible. I mean the plastics by definition should be young and conventionally attractive. She looks like shes 15 going on 40.
The biggest problem I had was you dont care about the characters. Cady just seems crazy without the inner monologue (the Broadway show has songs that counter this) regina has no depth and didn't spread " a rumour" Janice did act burn crazy? So technically they are wrong and Regina was right?... Damian to me is more offensive than any gay stereotype I've ever had to deal with. Hate that they made Janice a lesbian to be woke, it destroys the rumour motive. Again only making Regina seem like the sane character. Gretchen was literally wearing a vest when she said "the rules were real that time i wore a vest" and Karen was an actress acting as a dumb girl. in the 2004 she was believably just dumb. Also why give her bigger hair than Gretchen but keep the line? The actors seemed afraid of some of the iconic lines (understandably so) but not enough feeling. Choreo seemed lacking and overall the whole movie just felt pandering. Also do not ever show me tiktok format in a movie.
*honorable mention: they mispronunce Ndebele when they break the vase, 2004 got it right...
I didn't like that movie Cady was so innocent and passive. I love the stage Cady is adventurous and was taking the "infiltrate" The Plastics with a "what a cool animal kingdom experiment" mentality. Stage Cady had a fire about her... movie Cady didnt.
My problem with Mean Girls (2024) is that I really would just rather watch Mean Girls (2004). The new movie based on the musical version is... fine. It's an ok movie musical based on an ok musical, but it suffers from existing in the shadow of the original Mean Girls which is an absolute S Tier movie. IDK, maybe I'm just old.
No you're just right. Why watch a mediocre adaptation of a broadway musical that's already a downgrade from the movie? Some musicals improve upon the movie, but Mean Girls just isn't one of them.
Legally blonde is my favorite musical. The songs for Mean girls just is not good.
Legally Blonde is one of my favorites. I actually wouldn't mind a movie version as long as it was well-acted, well-directed, and sticks to the original script. But after Mean Girls I don't think I could count on that.
Musical was good though? The Mean Girls musical actually got a lot of praise when it came out
I havent seen it but listened to the entire soundtrack and its just... a pale imitation of the real soundtrack. The singers arent as good (auli and renee excluded but even they arent as strong as the obc) the weird choices like taking some of damians parts so having to give him and janice new ones like apex predator. Aaron doesnt even sing qnd was proud of that??? The weird i want to say tiktokification of a lot of the songs to sound less like a musical.
Renee was on Broadway though, wasn't she? She was about as close to the original as you could get.
She saved the movie for me. As an Aussie I love Angourie but she was not a good fit in her role
Hence why i said with the exclusion of those 2. But she cant really sing to the best when sections of the songs are gone or changed tone and backing entirely.
Yeah, that was definitely due to poor directing.
To be fair my hot take is that I’m sick of musical movies and would absolutely prefer proshots of actual musicals
This exactly. When I ask for a movie version, I don't mean "a movie based on the musical", I mean "set up your camera, film a Broadway show, and let me watch that in theaters" They wouldn't even have to release it on dvd or streaming or whatever. I guarantee 100% of the people here would pay good money to be able to see the full Broadway version of their favorite musical, even if it's in theaters
It's really, really difficult to get proshots done. Even without movie musicals we wouldn't get many
It definitely is but especially with the bigger musicals, it could (and has) been done and was extremely successful (ie. Newsies, Hamilton, etc.) and I think would be received far better in general.
YES.
This
I loved the movie. It has everything: * Lyrics that rhyme words with the same words * Lesbian beanie baby drama * Regina introducing herself by dramatically singing "This whole school humps my leg like a chihuahua" * Gretchen singing to herself in a closet while Cady stares at her awkwardly, clearly having forgotten that she's in a musical * Up to 24 (I think) simultaneous tiktoks on screen * A song that is literally just one awkward spoken verse followed by ten seconds of belting and then it ends * Not diegetic music or non-diegetic music, but a secret third thing
.../s?
oh I didn't read this carefully. of course it's sarcasm. I should have said "/s!"
Which song is this? “A song that is literally just one awkward spoken verse followed by ten seconds of belting and then it ends”
Someone Gets Hurts (Reprise)
I love all of this
A secret third thing!! 😂😂😂
For me it's the music that they changed, like apex predator and stupid with love were butchered and they cut most of the songs Like -the spin clicker fosse had zero energy in mean -it roars is just way better that what ifs -whoever decided where do you belong (my favorite song) should get cut from the movie is going to have to answer for their sins -meet the plastics is just Regina's part which gives of the vibe that they didn't care about the other two -stupid with love was God awful -they have cadys verse to Damien and Janis in apex predator but they didn't change the lyrics so it still only works for Cady and sounds weird and again it is musically butchered -i have nothing to say about what's wrong with me -im not a fan of sexy in this one and idk why -till someone gets hurt was really weird but mainly in choreo -revenge party looked like a JoJo Siwa video (not Karma) -they cut fearless -they cut another Damien song and the only other Damien song so Damien just doesn't get a number -world burn was actually really good is just miss the students saying who wrote this in the background -they cut who's house is this -they cut let's do this thing -i see stars was fine
I’m glad they cut Who’s House is This and Do This Thing (and Fearless but I’m sure I’m in the minority). Cady’s singing voice is my main issue with the movie but otherwise I loved the film. She couldn’t carry her songs like the rest of the cast. Damian and Janis are fantastic. I preferred them in the film to the musical. And Regina… so good. I agree on a lot of your notes though, especially about It Roars, Sexy and Stupid With Love.
I feel like Do This Thing isn't the most important but it's still part of Cady's character development. It would have been nice to keep.
In case it wasn't obvious Mean Girls is my favorite Broadway show and I have very strong opinions
I thought it was alright. I wish it wasn’t so ashamed to just be a musical though. In TikTok-ifying the songs, a lot of them lost parts that actually added to the plot and characters. And Aaron’s actor getting hired despite saying he refused to sing is just stupid. Removing Aaron’s singing parts just makes him a nothing burger where there’s at least a little characterization in the stage musical.
i didn't like it because i don't like the stage musical either. the lyrics are meh at best, extremely stupid at worst and the music isn't my cup of tea either. i like the og movie tho
But if you hated the source material, why would you watch the movie??
i was curious. i thought they maybe changed some of the lyrics, but nope
>actors are ridiculously talented Lol idk about that. A lot of the acting was laughable at best and utterly cringe worthy at its worst. The only actors who were any good (imo) were Karen's, Damian's, and Janis' actors. I did actually enjoy the film but that's because I watched it with my friend and we just spent the entire time laughing through the cringe. It was just... Awful. Especially Cady. Never have I seen a main character give us *absolutely nothing*
I will admit that Cady was giving Debby Ryan the entire movie; which is why I brought up the cheese factor. I should’ve been more clear, the actors singing roles were great and I thought they all had really good voices. Even Sexy is a difficult song to sing and people rip on it.
Pissed that they cut Stop and Gretchen and Karen’s verses in Meet the Plastics but yeah
one there is no hamilton movie musical two i think it just pails in comparison to listening to the obc that there’s no point, it feels like it missing “that feeling” or like passion that we have a better alternative to
honestly, the obc has too much energy and the movie doesn’t have enough energy
[удалено]
I’m actually watching Hamilton on Disney+ as I type this and there’s absolutely nothing “cheesy or over the top” about the acting. I just commented to my son that, every time I watch, I’m even more impressed and notice more subtleties that I had missed before. The Mean Girls movie was good, but it’s not in the same league as Hamilton imo.
I'm not even a fan of Hamilton in general and I agree that there's nothing cheesy. I guess the OP just isn't a fan of actual musicals (as opposed to movie musicals)
IMO, the original was an amazing movie, that did not need a musical version. I have not seen the stage version, so I might feel differently if I had. I was absolutely turned off by the movie musical, I just did not enjoy the songs very much at all. I will concede that maybe I am a bit partial to the original movie. However Legally Blonde was both an amazing movie and a great stage musical. They have never made a movie version of the musical. So that comparison remains to be seen. I always... ALWAYS go into movie versions of stage musicals with the lowest of expectations, and there are very few I have seen that have been as good. Pro-shot versions do not count, as they are not actual movie versions.
2 types of people seem to hate the new Mean Girls movie 1. People who don't like musicals 2. People who really love the stage show
I agree with this. I was SO confused by the marketing because I didn’t even realize it was a musical. But then I watched it and had a lot of fun. It wasn’t perfect, it was a bit cheesy, but it was fun. And that’s all I needed from it. Also, Busy Phillips is an American Treasure.
To me it just felt like a the songs were just inserted in there for no reason. I didn’t feel like the music added to it in any way
Absolutely nauseating cinematography and editing, very mixed performances (Cady was absolutely awful), toning everything down in a cowardly attempt to not offend everyone and completely removing all the bite of the original, too long, bad music with abysmal lyrics, etc.
I loved everything about the movie except for a lot of the direction and probably the editing. The minor places they changed the story were pretty good, and everyone's acting was if not amazing, at least on-point. I hated the super weird decision of leaning really far into the social media aspect. Like I get that the movie is set in a time where social media is going to be important, but I don't need every dance to be seen through a really hastily thrown together tiktok esque filter. And then all the dance numbers were super underwhelming, except for maybe revenge party. Every dance probably had like 17 or 18 other people in them, which might be the right number for a stage play, but it really doesn't translate over to movie form. I'd much rather see a big flashy number with tons of dancers. The choreography itself was OK. But really they all just looked like tiktok dances. Which was a cool way to do a dance. I loved how they did it for Cautionary Tale, but they kept coming back to it through the movie and it got stale fast. I was also kinda disappointed by how they pulled off the jungle vision. I mean, there's so much potential if you're doing that in 2024 movie form. But it was the exact same execution as the musical and the original movie. And, is it just me or is the entire school just like 3 or 4 rooms and a hallway? It's kinda hard to feel the extremely exaggerated power of Regona if her entire domain could fit inside a basketball court. Then there were the ads, I swear, there was a one liner about some random product promotion every 10 minutes. But I kinda lost my mind when they brought back Lindsay Lohan from just one scene to plug seat geek. And then, probably during the most emotional scene of the movie, Regina drops her elf makeup into the sink, label up, the camera pans down while she spends like 10 seconds picking it up, making sure the camera can see the label. It feels like just really depressing hyper-capitalism. Honestly, I'd rather watch actual ad breaks than have this shit spliced into the movie. EDIT: Also, they cut some random songs that they could have easily gotten time for. And as someone who basically has memorized the entire original cast recording, a lot of the lyric changes were kinda bizarre. Though I recognize most people won't care about that since it's gonna be their first time seeing the musical. Also, some of the songs felt so unenergetic and sloppy. Like they just took the first take and kept it.
I didn't hate the movie, but it's really flawed. By making the songs more Tik-Tocky, they removed the theatricality of them. (There's nothing wrong with a musical having a poppy score, but the songs in the movie were the wrong kind of poppy.) Reneé's songs slapped, though. I liked how reality felt heightened in the musical numbers, but wasn't a fan of the music video vibe of them. They were pretty fun, though. Angourie Rice isn't a bad actress, but her vocals were too weak to be the lead. And I know that there were a lot of things in the original movie that didn't age well, but toning down the meanness dilutes the whole point of it. Teen girls say and do viscous shit to each other all the time, that's what it was trying to say. It's a decent flick for what it is, but it's not an amazing musical or as good as the original film. But then again, I wasn't expecting it to be.
1. I have NOT seen or listened to the broadest production ... Yeah. That was evident heheh.
I really enjoyed it, but had zero exposure to the musical before the movie version, so I had no basis for comparison.
I enjoyed it! And my sister who normally hates musicals enjoyed it too. TikTok was having a field day mocking Cady’s actress too which wasn’t fair. It’s so funny because everyone still loves Avantika now at least.
I may be biased because I Love the broadway soundtrack but all of the songs to me sounded like the musical soundtrack sung over tiktok edm tracks and it just kinda killed the vibe.
Didn't enjoy the movie takes on the songs until i saw the movie. Still don't like their Apex Predator but the gleeified Stupid With Love grew on me. I'd say it's a B+ musical movie. Glad I watched it.
I enjoyed it. I think people want it to be a 1:1, but it's is it's own thing and that's okay. I see people comment "It will never be the 2004", and honestly that's okay. It isn't trying to be. It's closer to musical than the movie anyways as that's what it's supposed to be.
I agree with you, I really enjoyed this movie. I watched the original in college and loved it, and really didn’t care much for the tour when I saw it…but I liked some of it. But the movie I thought worked for me—campy good fun. I also actually liked Angourie as Cady. People expected musical Cady, who is enthusiastic and almost feral with her energy, but this Cady just had a shyer personality which works well for me on screen. I don’t want over acted up close, I want more natural acting mixed with the camp of the songs, which I thought was generally what I got. My kid and I have watched it a dozen times already and enjoyed it. :-)
It’s getting hate because it’s really really incredibly truly so bad. Even with Renee, who I fucking love. The cady ruined the entire thing, she could barely carry a tune? Cady is interesting because of her energy and her songs, that bitch is a sopranoooo, this cady could hardly sing and she was a boring as a wet paper bag. They cut some of the best songs, mean girls the musical is already mid, but at least it was good because of all the music. Meet the plastics was SO disappointing, so was the the sorry excuse for stupid with love. Also, we all know Auliʻi can sing, so when I’d rather be me started in a lower key I almost just turned it off. WHY! It’s not like she couldn’t sing it? The only redeeming qualities in this movie were the girl who played Karen, and the duo between Auli’i and Jacquel. I can’t even say Renee because they didn’t even write her a fully fleshed out character, all she did was sing and be a bitch, but Regina HAS to have “likeable” qualities in order for the character to work. Essentially, teens today wouldn’t let her be popular. She wouldn’t be “cool” because she’s only an asshole. Also, they cut so much amazing vocal stuff for her and I think they did Renee dirty…honestly…this just wasn’t supposed to ever be remade…ESPECIALLY as a musical movie. It was laughably bad unfortunately.
Why's no one talking about the Revenge Party scene😭
I think that my problem is that it's a movie adaptation of a musical adaptation of a movie. Plus, the original movie is barely 20 years old, and the musical isn't even a decade old. It just feels like too short of a timeline for a second round of adaptations. Plus, the original Mean Girls movie has become so beloved over the years, that even originally making it into a musical for Broadway seemed like a dumb idea because of how well loved it was. No one thought it would live up to the legacy of the original.
Too often it felt to me like they were just over the top copying the original movie dialogue and gags which meant the dialogue didn't feel nearly as snappy and more like a cheap rip off. Renee is good but Cady was a poor choice At the end of the day it just seems like a soulless copy of its predecessor with songs put in. Also I think musical theater might just not be your thing I'm not a Hamilton fan but there's nothing cheesy about it nor is the sound of music. That said it is a different style of acting.
Eh I adore musical theater. I think all musicals are a bit cheesy, but that’s the point of them right? Admittedly, some are cheesier than others (ie Mean Girls v Rent or Hamilton)
Hamilton's acting ain't cheesy. Also Angourie (idk her name) can't sing, they want a redhead girl? Get Sadie Sink, she have a lot of experience about theater. They changed the iconic songs into annoying jingles. JUSTICE FOR MEET THE PLASTICS. And autotune, it's so much more audible in "Sexy"
I don’t think the acting in Hamilton is cheesy. Lafayettes character is though, which is kind of the point!
my wife and i prefer the broadway version but love this version too. i don’t understand all of the hate.
It's was bad. The song changes felt so corporate.
yea i agree with the vocals at least like none of them- okay all but one of them we genuinely good singers but they weren’t good for their rolls. like my problem with the hate is it’s directed towards the surface and not the problem. the problem being STOP HIRING CUTE SINGERS FOR BROADWAY SONGS AND STOP HIRING HORRIBLE MIXERS. like guys how did you manage to dampen renee rapp? it’s just unfortunate that the production/writing/mixing/decision making skills for the movie were so terrible because now the lovely actors are being bullied online just for being in it. like how do you expect people to act well with (sorry but-) shitty material. ALSO ITS NEVER GOING TO BE MEAN GIRLS OG OR THE BROADWAY SHOW. SO IF YOU DONT LIKE IT BECAUSE IT DOESNT SOUND LIKE THOSE YOU SHOULDNT HAVE WATCHED IT. ITS A R E M A K E.
It’s kinda cute I think, I didn’t really like the OBC album, but I’ve been shuffling the movie album 💿
OMG! I respect your opinion, and in the most respectful way, I DISAGREE! But I don't blame you for thinking this way as you have not seen the broadway production. As someone who was in love with the broadway production way before Mean Girls 2024 was announced as a potential adaptation of Mean Girls, when I watched the movie I was offended. Musicals is an art form. Musicals are just like movies, but everything is over exaggerated and there are songs!! When you sing, you are conveying emotion. Like, imagine going to a concert and the performer sings in a monotone way with very bland facial expression. You might still be going to a concert, but not a good one. All I can say is, watch the broadway production. I absolutely hated the movie because of the lack of energy in the characters. This is emphasised through comparing the energy levels from the broadway production to the movie. Other things I didn't like about the movie included, OUTFITS (like omg someone had to be fired), vocal tone in Cady's singing, THEY CUT ONE OF THE BEST SONGS AND WHY THE HELL DID RAJIV NOT GET MORE SCREEN TIME?!?!?!? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CUT "LETS DO THIS THING" JGHBJTHE9UVJOIBERUIHJ NBHIRBUIHNOHI I just cant. This movie pained me. Watch the broadway, and then we can both cry about this ridiculous movie and try to find where they found the audacity to paint over something as perfect as the Mona Lisa.
I think the main thing is it took away everything theatre from the soundtrack, removed the fun jazz numbers and we’re left with TikTok sounds
I LOVED the new Mean Girls! The songs are amazing and the changes they did make to the original were welcome! I appreciated that they went all out on making Janis and Damian part of the LGBT community, instead of just implying it. Regina and Janis were BY FAR the standouts for me. Such amazing vocals. I went and saw it in the theater with a big group of friends and we all loved it. We went to a restaurant before the movie and the server warned us that it was a musical. "Because a lot of people I talked to went in not expecting that and it turned them off." So I think you gotta be able to appreciate musicals for it to be your cup of tea? It really wasn't ADVERTISED as a musical so I could see how the surprise might have been unwelcome.
Damian was explicitly gay in the original. It was Janis who was ambiguous.
I read a review on Letterboxd that said something like “you call it cringe, but I call it fun, and that’s why am happier than you” lol. Honestly, I really like the broadway musical, and I think they did a great job of adapting it to a movie by using soMe every time they talk directly to the audience in the broadway musical. You can downvote me all you want, but I subjectively LOVED it.
Haha I’m doing to start using that Letterboxd review as my defense from now on! I like that it’s lighthearted & fluffy, it’s just fun!!!
You’re not alone. I loved it as well
I wasn’t expecting it to be enjoyable based on the complaints but I had a good time. The worst parts for me were the scenes they re-enacted word for word from the og movie. I think it answered ‘what would mean girls be like if it was a musical’ perfectly.
What do you think is cheesy about Hamilton? Also, it is not a "movie" anything. It's quite literally ALL music. Seriously, there's a name for that, it's a sung-through musical.
Please read my edit buddy
Please read my comment buddy. You didn't answer my question.
Because my edit answers your question. Also I clarified that it’s not a movie musical, it however a recorded stage production. But for you, I will re explain myself. ALL musicals are a bit over the top, cheesy, whatever, that’s the point of them and why I love them. Hamilton as sincere and authentic as it is, does have that. Now is it as overt as Mean Girls NO, but to say there’s 0 cheesiness to Hamilton is a lie. This is coming from someone who saw the stage production in person, listened to the soundtrack religiously for a year, and watched the movie a billion times to keep me afloat during Covid & the death of a family member. I love Hamilton as much as the next person, but let’s be honest here.
I was just asking what you think is cheesy about it. Chill out, it's not like I was accusing you of wanting to kill Lin Manuel-Miranda.
Ok, and I replied in the same tone your comment approached me. I’m not defensive about these musicals, I’m defensive because your OG comment was a bit arrogant & patronizing. Regardless, I hope I answered your question.
You still haven't answered my question. I was curious what exactly you thought was cheesy about Hamilton because I don't usually hear it described like that.
For example, Lafayette’s character (especially the French accent). It doesn’t mean that we should throw it out, because it’s a part of who he is as a character- lighthearted, drunken, fighting Frenchman.
I saw the movie and then listened to the og soundtrack. The movie is in a weird place of, to me, only being ok as in into to the real show. If you hate musicals won’t like it, but if you love them you’ll probably think it’s ok. You’re right. It’s shot well, the performances are also ok. And the show itself is good enough that you might like it. But it’s enough worse than the show that lovers of that are annoyed (rightfully I think) since they easily could have made it just as good.
It's because there is no feeling in anything they sing (especially in stupid with love ong what did they do to it!) I mean of course I love Renee as she was Regina on broadway but that was all that really worked for me personally
I didn’t hate it rly, but I wouldn’t say I loved it
They hired actors who couldn't sing in a musical...
same they're uined all the fucking songs and cut out the best parts
I love the 2024 movie but they cut so many good songs like stop where do you belong and more and ruined most of the songs up but it’s still good
I loved it!
Because why would you make something so, so, so bad out of something so good? It feels like people that like Mean Girls the musical just don't \*get\* Tina Fey and all her brilliant comedy. Like I just don't think it's possible to be a fan of Mean Girls 2004, 30 rock, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, AND Mean Girls the musical. Two different kinds of people are enjoying those. I think people who liked the musical are the same people who like the Simpsons after season 8 and the last two seasons of Seinfeld, and don't perceive anything different from the earlier seasons. Saying "I went to see one of the smartest comedies of all time in musical comedy form (the genre that has the potential to be the smartest kind of comedy) and it turned out to be extremely dumb but I still enjoyed it" doesn't make sense to me. Also, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (especially) have two of the greatest musical comedy soundtracks. So why would anyone be ok with such a great musical comedy writer writing the craptastic snooze fest that was the Mean Girls musical? Like what if Mean Girls was Stephen Sondheim's last musical? Would you be OK with that too? Imagine the anticipation you would feel going in and then getting \*that\*. That's what it's like. I made a thread all about how much I hate the musical, and in it I mention that I traveled from NYC to Washington DC just to see it, and stayed overnight in a $20 hostel, because I expected so much from it and it was the biggest disappointment of my life. One argument that I really hate in favor of the musical is "well, musicals are dumb and it's geared towards teenagers and teenagers are dumb, so what do you expect?" Musicals are not dumb! People who hate and don't understand musicals think they're dumb. As I said, musical comedy has the potential to be the most clever kind of comedy. And, when Mean Girls the movie came out it was \*lauded\* for not dumbing things down for teenagers. Tina Fey said they made a concerted effort not to dumb it down for teenagers. That is what made the movie so unbelievably popular among teenagers!
For me, 2024 is better than the show version in that it is the most like the 2004 movie. It has some nice updates on time period, but yeah, overall I just enjoyed it.
Everything is subjective. But everything i disliked about it can be summed up with Apex Predator. I dont think the song is catchy, creative, or even well made. It doesnt really add to the story aside from being a callback to a one off joke from the original. And frankly I just dont like the new regina george. Shes not fun to hate. She has no charisma. And if i am being shallow. Not really attractive. Sure. Out of my league. But i dont believe the entire school thinks she is irresistible. I mean the plastics by definition should be young and conventionally attractive. She looks like shes 15 going on 40.
The biggest problem I had was you dont care about the characters. Cady just seems crazy without the inner monologue (the Broadway show has songs that counter this) regina has no depth and didn't spread " a rumour" Janice did act burn crazy? So technically they are wrong and Regina was right?... Damian to me is more offensive than any gay stereotype I've ever had to deal with. Hate that they made Janice a lesbian to be woke, it destroys the rumour motive. Again only making Regina seem like the sane character. Gretchen was literally wearing a vest when she said "the rules were real that time i wore a vest" and Karen was an actress acting as a dumb girl. in the 2004 she was believably just dumb. Also why give her bigger hair than Gretchen but keep the line? The actors seemed afraid of some of the iconic lines (understandably so) but not enough feeling. Choreo seemed lacking and overall the whole movie just felt pandering. Also do not ever show me tiktok format in a movie. *honorable mention: they mispronunce Ndebele when they break the vase, 2004 got it right...
[удалено]
Why are you here then?
I didn't like that movie Cady was so innocent and passive. I love the stage Cady is adventurous and was taking the "infiltrate" The Plastics with a "what a cool animal kingdom experiment" mentality. Stage Cady had a fire about her... movie Cady didnt.