Knowing that the movie adaptation of the stage musical version of “Mean Girls” — a song-infused, Tony Award-nominated take on the 2004 teen-movie favorite that made its Broadway debut in 2018 — originally was planned to debut on Paramount+ before being moved to a theatrical release this week, the worry was it would be what we might call a “streaming-quality” affair.
Now, having seen it, we suspect Paramount Pictures executives believed it simply too strong not to be shown in auditoriums initially.
Don’t get us wrong — this movie musical is only “so fetch.” It loses a bit of its momentum in its second half, but overall it’s a joyous and energetic affair, an impressive first feature from directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., one that retains what made the original “Mean Girls” work while also celebrating it.
Of course, the first name associated with “Mean Girls” is that of Tina Fey, who based the screenplay for the meme-generating 2004 film from Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” and played the supporting role of high school math teacher Ms. Norbury. She penned an updated screenplay for this 20th-anniversary happening and reprises her role — as does fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall, the school principal.
And in the role that helped make Lindsay Lohan a teen idol, Cady Heron, is Angourie Rice, probably still best known for her portrayal of Betty Brant in the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” trilogy.
We meet the highly intelligent Cady in Kenya, where she has spent years being homeschooled by her environmental scientist mom (Jenna Fischer of “The Office”) but is now set to move to the United States and go to school with other teens. She is subsequently thrilled to be there, at least until bumping into and thus irritating another girl — during a vibrant musical number that portends how Jayne and Perez will use a movie camera to keep this “Mean Girls” kinetic — and then finding no welcoming faces in the cafeteria at lunch.
Worried the new girl has escaped to a bathroom stall to do drugs or have “a toilet baby,” social outcast pals Janis (Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of the titular character in “Moana”) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) invite her to come back and sit with them. They give her the lowdown on all the school’s cliques — most importantly “The Plastics,” consisting of blond queen bee Regina George (Reneé Rapp) and her subordinates, the desperate-to-please Gretchen (Bebe Wood, “Love, Victor”) and the delightfully dopey Karen (Avantika).
Wait, what’s this?!? Regina takes an interest in Cady and offers her a weeklong trial of sitting with them, Obvi, Cady will, like, have to follow their rules — pink on Wednesdays, sweatpants ONLY on Fridays, etc.
This thrills Janis, who long has wanted to exact revenge on her one-time pal Regina and recruits Cady as a spy. Cady goes along with the plan but seems to have only so much interest in hurting Regina — that is until Cady develops a major crush on Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney, “The Summer I Turned Pretty”) and then watches as Regina lures him back to her after learning of her supposed friend’s feelings for him.
We’ll say no more, even though we suspect many who watch the new film will be quite familiar with the vixen-like contours of Cady’s story arc from there.
Rice, whose credits also include 2018’s “The Nice Guys” and, more recently, the Apple TV+ limited series “The Last Thing He Told Me,” proves to be a fine choice for Cady. In her hands, the character is relatable even when not at her most admirable.
Similarly, we love to loathe Regina in the hands of Rapp, who took over the role on Broadway and has a solo music career, so she obviously can handle the movie’s musical requirements.
And while Avantika, who has starred in Indian films, earns several laughs as the well-meaning but brain-dead Karen, it is Spivey who could be brought up on charges for repeated scene-stealing. As Damian — who is, as Janis puts it in the loving way only a friend could, “almost too gay to function” — the actor best known for the theater production “A Strange Loop” — is endlessly enjoyable in his movie debut.
The movie brings over many of the musical numbers from the stage show, with lyrics by Nell Benjamin and music by Jeff Richmond, husband of Fey. This is an area where “Mean Girls” falls down a bit, as the songs are more of the serve-the-story variety and less the quality of tunes that would have you humming them for days. We’ll note that the movie includes two new songs — “What Ifs,” the aforementioned number during which Cady arrives at the school, and “Not My Fault,” a single featuring Rapp and Megan Thee Stallion that plays with the closing credits.
This second “Mean Girls” undoubtedly will stream in the relatively near future on Paramount+, so should you simply wait or hop in for a ride to the nearest theater?
To borrow the warm words of one Regina George, “Get in, loser!”
Where: Theaters.
When: Jan. 12.
Rated: PG-13 for sexual material, strong language, and teen drinking.
Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.5.
