A newer vision of “Mean Girls” comes out 20 years later, which sounds like a bad idea given the popularity of the original film. But this isn’t an adaptation, but rather an adaptation of the musical based on that film. To be quite honest, I was really not looking forward to seeing this. I somewhat enjoyed the original, but the January release so far has been rough. What gave me hope, however, was how much better musicals have been getting. Between “Wonka” and “The Color Purple,” I was gaining confidence in the future of musicals. I am perhaps the most critical of musicals for various reasons that I will get into with this review. Even though there were things I liked with this, the lack of direction also gave me plenty of things to dislike within the aspects that I did like.

This film was directed by a duo directing team, Samantha Jayne & Arturo Perez, Jr. When you really think about it, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea for a musical as one can focus more on the musical aspects and the other can focus more on the non-musical aspects. The problem that lies within this is how it feels like a movie that flows well. While we can get a strong musical set piece, what follows can be lackluster and forced, and vice versa. The film actually starts off with a strong one-take scene. It actually maybe made me a bit more hopeful as I should have been as the first clear cut happened, but that’s all right. That’s not what I have a problem with. I’ll start off with the positives.

As mentioned, the film starts off with a strong and creative one-take sequence. It’s a brilliant way to start the film as you get the idea of how this film takes off. From there, it’s clear that the film succeeded with getting the right cast. Angourie Rice is terrific in her right, but casting Jenna Fischer as her mom that looks so identical was a smart move. Putting my love for “The Office” to the side, I still think her talents are worthy of more work. Then, there is Reneé Rapp, who has a terrific performance as Regina George. From her vocals to more dramatic talents, I have a feeling that her career is going to skyrocket from here. The rest of the cast is great. Newcomers are on their way to doing more and those who have more of an experienced resume are having a great time with what screentime they have.

My next point is both good & bad. There are songs that are great in their own right; however, the way they are placed can often be forced and out of place. What I liked about “Wonka” & “The Color Purple” is how the musical aspects elevated the character’s emotions that I don’t think anything else could have done the same job. Here, I don’t see why musical pieces were always needed. I can see this being enjoyable through a musical play, but adapting this into a film cannot only be forced, but create a hectic tone structure.

This brings me to the overall story. There are definitely things there from the film, but the pacing results in crazy character decisions that don’t feel fully developed. The main character, Angourie Rice, goes having to form an identity of her own when she is shown to other people her age. It makes sense why she begins to evolve into Regina George and I think the film continues to have some great themes that are relevant today. At 1 hour and 58 minutes, the musical pieces are more of a focus compared to other things that need more focus. It would have been nice to see more of that relationship with Cady’s mom, because she feels like an afterthought that is clueless as to why her daughter is acting the way she is. Other characters get thrown in and out without much more involvement with the story. Seriously, if you are a fan of Jon Hamm (I’m not), I’ve got some bad news for you.

Mentioning inconsistent things, the last thing I want to bring up is how the technical aspects can even be inconsistent. That opening one-take would have you fooled as to how good the cinematography is, because it can be very unpleasant at times. There were scenes that took place in the cafeteria that were very off-putting and really begged the question as to why the plastics felt so entitled. There’s also the ADR where I could tell where the voicing was off from the vocals sung. If the film took more time to improve on these aspects, I think this could have been at least a little bit better.

Overall, “Mean Girls” is going to be better for fans of the original & the musical, but I can’t see where anyone else would enjoy it. It’s certainly not the worst film I have ever seen. If you think you’d enjoy it, please go see it; otherwise, I don’t think you’re missing out on much.

VERDICT: Okay