so... let's talk about the Mean Girls Movie (Musical)
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
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Today's we're talking the Mean Girls Move (2024), which is an adaptaion of the broadway musical (that's an adaptation of the 2004 movie... that's an adaptation of a book). We'll talk about my overall thoughts on the movie as a musical, some of the new cast and their performances (ex. Renee Rapp as Regina , Auli'i Cravalho as Janis, and Avantika as Karen), the styling, and some of the differences between the original movie and the 2024 adaptation, and why some of those changes were made.
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I liked the fact that Janis was meaner in the original, like a parallel to Regina, because that illustrated the whole point. Regardless of which side of things you’re on, you can still be a mean girl. I feel like softening her up misses one of the main points to take.
Adding to that, the way they tried so hard to make her the nice one in this one - she actually told Cady “we got everything we wanted, we can stop now” which just absolved Janis completely. So many messages were lost or muddled. Like, they didn’t want to use words and say it’s “bad” to be overweight but they said it anyway with Regina going crazy trying to drop the weight she’d put on. You can’t teach a message if you’re afraid to go all the way with it.
@@AnnelisR
I dont think any messages were lost or muddied in the newer version. Not everything is supposed to be exactly the same, otherwise, what would be the point of a remake? They literally refused to let Regina sit with them because she was too fat to fit her regular clothes and was forced to wear sweats. Did you need the movie to come out and say, "hey you're too fat to sit with us"?
Keeping Regina's homophobic remark would be realistic because so many people swear they're not homophobic but constantly make micro-aggressions and jokes they *think* are ok but aren't. It *is* possible to not be a completely pure and "woke" person
👍 (want to give it a like but your like counter is at the right number. )
Exactly
I mean I guess but honestly I think we’ve grown out of the phase where we need to insult Gay People and Black people to constantly be the butt of the joke. It wasn’t even that relevant in the original movie to begin with since Janis wasn’t even actually gay. If they added homophobic remarks in this movie it’d seem so forced or like they were trying to be edgy. We see so much hate crime going on online, do you really need it in THIS movie too? Just watch the original one
The thing is that EVERYONE in the main cast of this version was at least a little gay. I even saw Gretchen and Karen kiss in the background when Mrs George was talking, and Regina was lowkey flirting with Cady when she said “Get in loser” and that was the intention of Reneé Rapp in that scene. Janis is Les in this one, Damien is still gay, Cady is probably the only one who’s not at least a little gay in this one
Jaquel Spivey (Damien) is a Tony award nominee for his work on Broadway! I was so happy they pulled from the Broadway pool for a role like Damien, because he deserves it, and Jaquel is incredibly talented. I just wish they didn't cut his solos that were in the musical...
I hated this movie, but Damien was hands down the best part
I was FURIOUS they cut out Where Do You Belong, Jaquel would have crushed that.
he would've crushed Stop
I saw him in A Strange Loop and he blew me away
The humor from 2004 was definitely watered down. If anything, holding back on Regina's meanness and the social tmade her comeuppance seem disproportional to her actions in the movie. I actually felt bad for her
And other things like elf makeup? Really for mean girls? Girl no
@@danielorlovaquinnRight lmao Regina is clearly wealthy af why is she using elf cosmetics lmfao. I could see Tarte or Fenty or Charlotte Tilbury. Not elf wtf
@@piratesswoop725 i will say the vibe is definitely more average high school compared to the more upperclass vibes you could see with the first movie so elf makes sense but it did throw me off
regina's way of being mean is actually very accurate to the way bullies are in this day and age, I am currently in high school and I'm basically the Janis of the school but whenever someone is mean to me it's not outright aggressive; its more watered down so people can't be like "omg why would you say that?" and so the person they're talking to can't really fight back.
Yea passive aggressive and bitchy
I think the damian/janice kiss scene was in there as a joke mocking that the trope of the two sidekick friends having to end up together. So they though, “oh we need to do this” before going yuck. Nope.
lol I never thought of it this way
That's how I always interpreted the scene even when I saw it for the first time. It was similar to A Cinderella Story not making the male best friend be hopelessly infatuated with the female lead. Both movies just either mocked or didn't go for a commonly used trope which instead feels refreshing when something is overdone.
I love that Reneé Rapp is not heavily media trained, or if she is she ignores the training. I wish we could make it easier for celebrities to feel comfortable in interviews and online without bashing them (Reneé just doesn’t care).
It’s hard to feel bad when that’s the job. You sign on for the promotion of the film. If you don’t like it don’t become a film actor. I also think if she doesn’t care then she gets the reaction she gets. You can choose how to handle interviews but you can’t choose the reaction. If she doesn’t mind that then she should be good.
I didnt love it or hate it. It doesnt compare to the original but the cast did the original justice (especially damien & karen)
Yesss they were my faves too!
Agreed
@@Luvrenebebe the movie musical that’s based on the broadway musical based on the movie based on a book.
@@Luvrenebebeit's a musical version of the original. It WILL be compared and SHOULD be able to hold a candle light to it. Otherwise it failed
TOP 2 FAVS
One thing that bothers me is that no one is mean enough. Regina is just rude but she’s boring. I can’t imagine her actually being popular in comparison to the original Regina who is two-faced. The only good part of her is the singing. Cady doesn’t really turn that mean. & Karen & Gretchen just get bullied by Regina. Janis is also not as mean. In the original, I feel like more characters had comedic moments where they were super arrogant and fake and that’s just missing in the new one. There’s no nuance.
Completely agree. There's no "meanness", there's no edge. It feels overly sanitized and boring.
Rachel McAdams and Renee Rapp were amazing as Regina George in their different interpretation. Instead of just comparing which one is the better, i rather appreciate both talented actress in playing Regina at their own way 🙌
Rachel McAdams was better period. She is always going to be Regina George I can’t believe comparisons are even being made
@@msnewsenior Well Rachel is supportive of Renee and I liked Renee's portrayal as a musical version of Regina so why the hell not have both 🤷
I liked Renee's a bit better just because she brings more of a cool girl flavor. But agree both are good.
The fact that Tina Fey looks the same as she was 20 years ago in the original Mean Girls movie is pretty crazy. But hey, good for her 🤗
Ok she definitely does not, not bashing she is aging bueatifully but she is noticablely older in this compared to the og
I had fun with it. It’s not perfect, it definitely has its flaws but had so much fun watching in it. It can exist on its own along with the original and the broadway show.
I actually was bothered with some of the song cuts. Because save for a few songs (who’s house is this etc) a lot of the musical numbers were plot focused. Like the original Meet The Plastics included an introduction to all of the plastics AND them inviting Cady, or how the original Apex Predator involved the entire mall scene and showed Cady slowly realizing how dangerous Regina is. Other songs didn’t move the plot forward but DID offer insight into the characters that grant them more depth (more is always better) and due to those songs being cut, certain characters feel much flatter in comparison. Also side note the reason I PERSONALLY am upset by the new arrangements is that they cut out all the cool leitmotifs and Melodies that made the songs so big and awesome!
THIS !! I was screaming this throughout the entire movie!! A majority of the movie would not have many any sense if you hadn’t been familiar with the previous material and I think this is why Cadys character felt flat imo, a lot of her characterization relied on previous knowledge of her.
Absolutely. I really missed the cool instrumentations in Stupid With Love, it set Cady apart music wise, and replacing it with this weak, watery acapella background was such a bland replacement
@@one-onessadhalf3393It’s because this Cady doesn’t have the voice for the Broadway role. She has a sweet, gentle singing voice.
@PelafinaLievre If that’s the case then they should’ve just cast someone with the voice for a Broadway role.
my issue with the costuming, specifically with the plastics, is that in the original each of them had styles that fit their characters and was important for their character development. like gretchen was more preppy with sweaters, pearls, plaid, argyle, etc. while karen had a more playful, naive, simple, almost childish style. but in the film it felt some of gretchen and karen’s outfits could be interchangeable with each other and didn’t add to their characters. plus it was important the plastics dressed above and better than everyone instead of just like everyone else. they were apparently wearing designer clothes but it was styled in a way that it looked cheap. the plastics wouldn’t use elf, they would have the dior lip oil or chanel products, etc.
Also what’s so funny is that the mall scene was included in the broadway musical, majority of Apex Predator is choreographed to animal behavior in the mall, and it’s done very well. idk why they removed the mall scene in the new musical movie.
I honestly recommend you watch the musical (i’m sure there’s a bootleg online) because it does a great job of translating the animal/teenager imagery.
I'm not American but I think malls are not a thing anymore, so it wouldn't make a lot of sense for these teenagers to hang out there. They exist but they are not as popular as they used to be.
9:00 Jaquel is actually a Broadway actor!! This is his first media performance, he’s kind of new to both scenes as his role on Broadway in A Strange Loop was his first Broadway role (which we was heavily awarded for) he’s so super talented and deserves all of his flowers.
small note on THE VEST lol in the movie I understood it as Karen saying the ‘rules’ were real when she wore *A* VEST, and Regina quickly snaps “because *THAT VEST* was disgusting” bahahaha in my head I imagined that Karen’s crime was like that she wore a brown vest or something that made her look like a country music star… in a bad way
Fair… I always took it as she hated it in general since sweatpants in general were banned, and Regina banned Gretchen from hoops in general. Also Regina would “justify” it by saying Karen’s vest was UGLY, so it wasn’t allowed (even though it technically wasn’t allowed bc vests aren’t allowed, not bc it was disgusting). Basically her moving the goal post to rationalize being allowed to wear the sweatpants
oh snap- not me falling for Regina’s scheme of moving the goal post to justify her sweatpants!! 😭😭😭
Lmaoo!! There was just no way she was gonna be like “omg Karen you’re right lemme follow my own rules” so she had to think of something snappy- I’m sure the rule was “no vests” not “no ugly vests” bc that’s subjective
I loved that during Sexy when Karen was showing various Halloween outfits she briefly pulls out the white shirt with the cuts showing the purple bra. Since they've replaced that scene in the new plot it was a cute easter egg.
I had a fun time watching this film as well! Damien, Janis, and Regina’s performances were incredible and I hope they become huge stars after this. Apparently, this was meant to be a paramount plus release before Barbie did so well and I think it shows in the size of these sets and lack of proper lighting because of budget constraints. At points it seemed like there was a blue tint on everything and it all just felt less grand. In response to your question in the video, they included MOST of the best songs, so while they could have included a couple more they definitely didn’t need the whole set list added (Wicked better do though!), however the way they adapted them was so strange. They removed all of the instruments that gave the musical this jungle safari vibe, which was the right decision in my opinion. They didn’t, however, replace those tracks or extra melodies with anything else! So all the songs are very bare bones and lack depth. Also whoever directed Cady’s vocals and the changing of her notes in Stupid With Love and Revenge Party should be ashamed of themselves lmaooo. I’m glad I still have the original soundtrack though…rip lol. Still it’s a fun time and I loved seeing familiar faces there to ground this. It’s like Tina and Tim’s characters have just been working at this school for the last 20 years and are experiencing deja vu! 😭💖
You know what now that you’ve mentioned it I can kinda see that it may have been intended to stream, but it was still a fun theatre watch imo!
I liked Stupid with Love and Revenge Party I thought they were really fun
stupid with love is my favorite cady song in the OBC recording and i was disappointed with how it turned out in the movie. the vocals seemed so lifeless and i can’t tell if that’s because angourie rice can’t belt or the producers are making her sing like that to make the song sound less musical theater and more “pop” or “streamable”.
revenge party was not bad imo, i think it kept the chaos vibes of the original but the handheld closeup shot of cady singing her solo lines took me out 😭 like why did we decide to do that
I agree with you that removing the weird racist caricature of jungle/safari sounds from the songs was a good choice. It's been frustrating that people who have been critiquing the changes in the music are not talking about that. I do agree that making the songs richer instrumentally would have been good though!
Duvall and Norbury must've been like "Oh, not this again!"
i actually really enjoyed the movie and, as a high schooler, i thought it was pretty “accurate” in a non-cringy and pretty satirical way. one thing that i thought was a little silly was that they removed terms like wh*re and sl*t because they thought people today don’t really shame girls for that sort of thing but i do think those insults would be more relevant than calling someone a fugly cow considering people being bigger bodied isn’t as shamed (from my experience as a curvy girl) than being a so-called sl*t
I think they did it for the exact reason you just censored it. They wanted a pg-13 rating. I pretty sure there’s a joke about it in the film
Your bit about the Regina/janice beef is LITERALLY my biggest problem holy shit you said almost exactly what I said. My biggest gripe is that in 2004, the story being Janice not being gay and Regina starting a rumor that she is and it making Janice change schools is pretty sadly accurate to the time because when I was growing up (I’m 30 and I was in 6th grade when the original came out) being called gay was one of the worst rumors someone can spread about you for some reason, but in 2024, Regina outing Janice who in this world is actually a lesbian (or queer in some way) no fucking way would the entire school side with her regardless how mean and scary she is, it doesn’t matter what Janice did, what Regina did to an actual queer person would not go over well with a majority of people at school in this generation. I don’t know why they chose to make that the story. They should’ve made it a twist that Regina is in someway queer and the reason she did that to Janice was internalized homophobia or something that would’ve kind of made that make sense in my opinion. I have so many opinions about this movie I have to stop commenting lol
In the original, Regina makes fun of Janis for diving into a pile of girls but by the end of the film ends up joining the lacrosse team where she dives into a pile of girls leading some people to speculate Regina was closeted.
Renee’s interpretation of Regina is that she is queer and it shows in her acting choices. The actress is queer herself.
people from this generation still could be homophobic.
No I think if a bunch of people thought Janis had tried to set Regina on fire, which is Regina's version of events, they'd very much think she was a scary pyromaniac that they should stay away from. You could've told me that girl A got girl B's brother arrested, if you followed that up with so girl B set girl A on fire I'd stay the eff away from girl B, because that's a dangerous overreaction.
You don’t know anything about this generation and we can tell everything you know about Gen Z is from the internet. Most people in this generation are still homophobic and only care to speak up if there is anything they can personally gain.
Although i dont think this adaptation is not going to surpass the original Mean Girls, i think it's a fantastic adaptation of the musical and really great stand alone movie. Bcuz is really hard to surpass Mean Girls, but girl i was laughing the whole time
This is exactly how I felt! Partial to the original but this was a fun adaptation
They did this to Hairspray too. Hairspray started as a movie, then a musical and then a movie musical. All fantastic. All the versions of Mean Girls are great. I love the musical and I loved the remake and I of course love the original. The fact people still love this "franchise" after all these years is fantastic! I do wish there was more singing in the musical movie remake as some of the hilarious Karen lyrics got missed.
I actually liked Renee’s portrayal of Regina. That is all. lol. Also that scene in the movie where Regina and Cady are in the bathroom was actually a deleted scene in the original movie!!
The bathroom scene was a actual deleted scene in the 04 movie but I'm glad they kept it and revamped it
So first and foremost, I agree with the vast majority of what you said. But I had some small points I wanted to mention and get other’s thoughts on:
I think it’s very evident that this was a musical that was inspired from a Broadway play and then adapted to fit a movie format. What I mean by that is that I think this film looks and feels as if it was put together by taking different parts of a stage production and then just made into a movie versus a musical that was 100% written to be a movie in the first place. I think a great example of this “Lala Land and “HSM3: Senior Year.” Just to compare, I think a successful adaptation from stage to film was “Mamma Mia.”
I love you touched on and even noted how “irritatingly dumb” Karen was at certain points. This is character where you are clearly and blatantly told is just... dumb. It’s not even a “she’s not the smartest person in the world” situation, she’s just mind-numbingly almost aggravatingly dumb. I completely agree that Avantika played her amazingly. The character that was written in a way to where people could have hated her based simply how annoying it becomes when characters are “so stupid they begin to just not have basic common sense.” I think Renee deserves more praise. Regina George is an antagonist and is played incredibly well by Rachel McAdams. I think whoever they cast in this role was almost set up to fail because there is no one who was ever going to be what the character was in the 2004 film. With that being said, I do believe Renee did a hell of a job in this interpretation of her. I think this also may explain why she is more blatantly mean versus underhandedly mean.
I absolutely hated Janice in this. This has absolutely nothing to do with Auli’i’s performance but the script changes. I love that you shed light on how Janice uses Cady in the original to get back for her “eighth grade revenge” and the parallels between her and Regina. It brings the full circle aspect of anyone can be a “mean girl.” I used to really hate that no one ever calls out Janice in the original for her behavior and it seemed like she just got a pass by the time it was all said and done. But at least they have that small aspect in the original because I found it so infuriating that the 2024 version almost painted Janice like a victim. Granted, here me out. I’m not saying what Regina did to Janice was in anyway okay. However, using Cady as a form of revenge added a layer to Janice’s character. Its always shown in media that it’s the “popular” people who are assholes and treat others badly. I really loved that Janice, who is seen as anything but “cool,” also demonstrated that same behavior and malicious or cruel mentality that is always designated to the hierarchy, especially in high school settings. I will say I did like the change of her artistic medium to thread work. I just happen to know people who can do this and it was neat to see.
Small annoyance was just the fact that it was said the reason they don’t cancel the spring fling is because they have a DJ that has been paid already. Cut to the dance, they have a band performing. I know, it’s nothing. But just thought I would add it in there.
I’d love to hear what you all think.
on the "blatantly mean" regina vs passive aggressively mean -- i think this is a byproduct of the medium of musical theater in general. i feel like there's very rarely subtlety in the medium because the whole point is that your acting choices and script have to be visible and clear no matter if someone is watching from front row or in the nosebleeds. so when adapting mean girls to broadway, every character's most defining traits got turned up a notch: cady's awkwardness, karen's dumbness, gretchen's anxiety, and regina's cruelty. and then adapting it back to a movie meant that most of the passive aggression of the 2004 regina got lost. i absolutely love renee rapp's and rachel mcadams' respective portrayals of regina, but they basically feel like different characters at this point.
legit the Someone Gets Hurt and Sexy numbers were my favorite. Everyone shaking in Someone Gets Hurt altered my brain chemistry. Renee and Aauli'i absolutely stole the show with their singing and Avantika and Jaquel stole it with their comedic timing.
14:19 it bugged me bc they say she has big hair then the camera instantly goes to Karen who has bigger hair. Agreed. We need BIG hair for this roll
I 100% agree with you on the problematic comment part. It’s the same with the live action Ursula not having the iconic “body language” line and the “it’s much preferred for ladies for not too say a word” verse removed. Like, she’s the villain. Obviously she’s supposed to say problematic and sexist things to our heroine while she’s manipulating her. That’s the whole point. Great video! 💕
The only plot line that I think should've changed was the protein bars. Because Regina didn't care about what she ate necessarily. And no one was fat shaming her like they did in 2004. I just didn't understand why her gaining weight was a problem if no one cared
I think it was just a plot device for the big realization
Omg your Pink look today is soooooo gorgeous❤ Naomi your style is an inspiration for me.
Mean girls the first movie was so ICONIC back then, but for me this new version doesn't have that much appeal because i'm older now. And i'm a fan of musical movies when they are like Moulin Rouge, Chicago or the Phantom of the Opera.
Thank you 💕 I still need to see Chicago omg
Omg Chicago is a masterpiece 💕
14:23 : about the vests, I think the whole point of that line was that the reason Regina told Karen she couldn’t sit with them was cus the vest was ugly, not because she was simply wearing a vest.
“because that vest was disgusting” I think is directly targeted at that ONE vest and not vests as a whole.
Nothing compares to the original but I still enjoyed it. Loved Renee Rapp in particular. She brought her own flair to Regina
I liked it. Of course the original 2004 movie is the best and one of my favourite movies ever. But I think they did a good job with this one. The casting was really good. Renee Rapp did an incredible Regina George, she is so talented. And I love Angourie Rice. I think she did a good Cady and she is really cute. Gorgeous cast ❤
"I have been questioning this for 20 years" *has shocking realization of how time do be*
Tbh the biggest disappointment for me was the fashion. Like the outfits from the original movie are so iconic, and were in the middle of a y2k revival, so I was expecting them to go full aliyah-core with mini skirts and platforms and tiny purses and pink faux fur accessories. I just don't know how they got it so wrong, when that's literally been in style for the last few years. And, I know people are saying its because of the low budget, but like I can literally go to target or the thrift store with $100 and put together better outfits than they had in the movie
100%, I was saying that this wardrobe was either Trendy right now looks that will date, or throw backs to the original (cadys house party dress for example). People still do wardrobe break downs for the 2004 costumes relating to trends, designers, fabric choices and how they reflect the character/personality and development.
I can't see this film getting anything like that
“He gave swim team” 😭😭😭
I know you didn’t mean it as a joke but the way I knew what you meant had me screaming 😭
Damien was my faveeee he needs ample amounts of success
5:29 Renee did her thing as Regina but I hated every single pants & shoes she wore. In the OG movie The Plastics practically lived in skirts,dresses,& heels to set up “Girl World” so when they put Renee in pants for EVERY SINGLE SCENE her showing up in sweat pants doesn’t feel impactful I just felt like “So what she’s been wearing not tight pants this entire movie! But since this one has a draw string now your mad?” It just didn’t have the same punch as the original
The comment section is so nice here. What good vibes
Yep, this was Jaquel’s first movie role! He’s a Tony Award nominee for the 2022 musical A Strange Loop!
I was a little annoyed that they cut out Stop in particular. That song was so important in the musical. Plus it was funny.
i honestly think they made the right choice not including the half of the broadway soundtrack. I’m a huge fan of the musical and saw it a few times on broadway, and after a while there were certain songs I would zone out in while watching, and these were the same songs that got cut. However, i do dislike that they cut both of Damien’s songs. “Stop” which is the Act 2 opener makes sense to cut because it’s irrelevant to the plot, but i think “Where Do You Belong” would have fit perfectly in the film. I also wish they included all three Plastics introductions in “Meet the Plastics”
Also the “diving into a big pile of girls” line was also included on broadway, that change must’ve been made some time in the pandemic and i agree with you that it should’ve been kept.
This is Jaquel's first film role, but he actually had another major role, which is Usher in the Broadway musical A Strange Loop (which he booked right after graduating college)! :) It has a cast recording (search the Broadway one, there are 2 different cast recordings) and some clips on CZcams :) he was nominated for a Tony award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical :)
(haha honestly just rooting for him since strange loop era, rly excited to see him getting more well-known
I haven’t seen this yet (it comes out today in the UK) but I’m disappointed that they seem to have dulled the edges of Janis even more. The whole point of the original movie was that she was also a mean girl, but just didn’t acknowledge it. In the musical they sanded that down and made her appear less mean, and now it seems they’ve done that even more. So weird. She is one of the mean girls; that’s the point!
Jacqiel Spivey starred in A STRANGE LOOP, one of the best new musicals of recent years. He is BREATHTAKINGLY GOOD, do yourself a favor and listen to the cast album. The whole cast is SUPERB. ❤
I think the big reason why this film lacked edge is because the writers just don't understand gen z. I feel like they just assumed that all of gen z is "woke" and because of that people aren't as mean now. I genuinely think that they just don't know how to write characters that are mean without making them say explicitly racist, homophobic, or misogynistic things. Like, I feel like gen z is known for being very creative with their insults and I wish that was incorporated into the movie more. Regina's underhanded compliments and jabs in the original movie just feel more in line with gen z mean girls than how they portrayed her in the remake. And, with how much social media is used for bullying today, I'm suprised they didn't incorporate it more into the movie in that way. Like, I want to see the plastics using burner accounts to leave nasty comments on their classmates posts or Regina talking about someone on tiktok and pretending to be all surprised when her followers go after them.
Aaron Samuels was on the football team as well as the soccer team. It made sense that he was a popular, attractive jock; the new Aaron was none of these things. The new Janis Ian just didn't match the same goth girl energy as Lizzie Caplan brought to the role. Also, what was up with not mentioning Gretchen Weiner's father being the inventor of Toaster Strudel? I hate how they didn't have the mall scene, do young people not go to the mall anymore?
teens don't really hang out on the mall anymore, unless we're going to the movies. everything is too expensive and there's not much to do.
That bathroom scene was in the original!! It was a deleted scene but I remember it being in all the Freeform airings
14:17 Yes I totally agree. While I loved Bebe's performance I really hoped for this version that they would have cast someone with curlier/coily hair!
You need to watch a clip of Jaquel Spivey in the musical “Strange Loop”. He fucking slays in everything he does
Thank you!!! Figured he came from the stage
@@naomi.cannibalyess and they won best musical last year!!!!
Im actually going to go see it a second time later today! I loved it
THANK YOU! I didn’t know why it felt bad for thinking the “slang” was making. The coach Carr change up with extremely right and well executed but they could have getting more out of Jon Hamm. The sponsored by seat geek line by Lindsay floored me because it could have been a joke but it was a straight up ad!
My issue, I haven’t heard anyone say it. It wasn’t as BRIGHT as the original. It reminded me of the school scenes from Twilight. Muted and gray but with pink in places. I’m still digesting it lol Busy and Jenna as the moms were great!
Also, I think 2004 was a character of the original too so this weird hybrid feels uneasy? The music from the original was also a huge part of it. Ugh man I keep picking it apart but it was fine.
I really really liked the way renee played regina and her new style! I wish they had the scene at the end where regina played sports at the end. That made so much sense for this version but the cowards didn't commit! But i still really enjoyed this movie and the show!
I was bothered they skipped It Roars which sets up the scene a lot better than what they did. Also, getting rid of the reprise of “What’s Wrong with Me” cut Gretchen’s character arc short and made her character seem unfulfilled. I kinda wished Barrett Wilbert Weed would’ve played Janice as she is the most popular actor to have played her but I get it as they also had Ashley Park play a teacher when she could’ve played a real character as well.
You should make a video on The Color Purple! It was amazing!
My favourite part was when Damian sung the iCarly theme song. It took me tf out.
Honestly I didn't even think Renee's regina was mean except to Gretchen. Like, she wasn't mean at all imo. lol
Damon and Jackie both got Boos in this one and I loved ❤
This is onviously a global north issue, but one thing that ticks me off is many of the musical movies and some other genres don’t make it to small towns. There is limited access if we want to watch these films. I get that it lands on streaming apps at some point, but we should have the option to watch these films all over.
But it makes sense considering how many theaters closed down during the pandemic d
Not gonna lie as both a mean girl megafan and a musical theatre nerd I literally hated the Broadway musical bc the songs were forgettable and boring and most importantly it lacked the biting edge of the original movie, it watered down the great parts of the original movie as suppose to enhancing or evolving it. Heathers the musical did what I thought the mean girls musical was gonna do, that musical not only had better songs but enhanced the great aspects of the original movie, that deep disdain against the Broadway musical was the sole reason why I didn’t want to see the movie but for my new year resolution is to let go of my pretentious snobbish ways and actually give something a chance before judging it automatically, your review makes me want to see it, sounds like the musical movie did what the Broadway musical was suppose to do so for my bday weekend I’m definitely gonna go see it alongside the color purple since they are both musical movies and I love seeing two movies in the theater for special occasions
Funny you say that bc I remember watching a Sarah Z video about the musical being bad which also made me nervous to see the movie… but truly it was fun. I left surprised that it was better than I thought. I do think a lot of the parts ppl are critiquing online are fair, and people are more or less critiquing the same things which is “good”, and at least (for now) a lot of the better parts haven’t been recorded and put online
I fullyyyy agree on your take of Heathers vs Mean Girls! Some of the the songs, like I’d rather be me are just so lyrically basic that it’s borderline upsetting for me 😅
I’ll probably check out Mean Girls when I have a chance to see it, but can’t wait for Heathers to have a movie remake 🫣 and I highly recommend the Color Purple musical too!
They did Gretchen dirty in this film costume wise 🤣
I LOVED it. I was in high school when the OG came out. Always been a fan. Haven’t seen the BW play but was fully aware. And I love that it takes inspiration but also its own thing. And the showing I seen, everyone clapped at the end so I had a great experience. 😊
I didn’t know it was based of the musical version at first, so I didn’t miss the songs from the Broadway version. I think the balance was really great between singing and acting and I love Renée Rapp
Thank you!!! I've only been seeing negative reviews, and since i was fan of the broadway musical i thought id listen to the skundtrack to see if was really as awful as everybody thought it was. Most of the songs sounded fantastic tho, like yeah they were defintly more subdued than the broadway ones but thats to be expected, even if its a bit dissapointing. Im glad you took the time to fully explain what you like and what you didnt like from it
Loved Avantika’s performance and her musical scene!
I needed this before I watch it! Also off topic, but your earrings are so cute!! Where did you get them??
The only thing I hate is they should of shown the whole meet the plastics Gretchen and Karen’s part but they each get their own Song but I wish they snag their parts in meet the plastics
as someone who LOVES mean girls, and is also a fan of the musical (even tho it isn't the greatest musical ever) i was so disappointed with this. it felt like a shallow retelling of both the movie and the musical, without the heart of either. it didn't have as much wit or narrative progression+character development as the movie, and they changed the production and placement of a lot of musical numbers, which totally threw off the pacing. the whole POINT of making a musical is that the music carries the story, but cutting numbers like ‘where do you belong’ doesn’t showcase the new school environment cady is in or develop her friendship w Janice and Damien, and cutting’ meet the plastics’ didn’t properly introduce the plastics or build up to a big regina introduction. It just felt like they were saying quotes from mean girls because its a line from the og movie, not because the characters are actually feeling it. Most of the musical numbers also felt like a renee rapp music video and tbh im not the biggest fan of her, im sure the girlies that love her loved it but it didn’t add anything to the story and if anything slowed down the pace just so we can see more shots of regina. Super disappointed but im glad im not the only one! Insane to me that paramount tried to not market it as a musical, bc if anyone walked into the theatre not liking/ not knowing it was a musical, I can’t imagine they would have their opinions on musicals changed for the better.
Thank you for doing a review for the new mean girls movie musical because I will not be able to see it in person at the movie theaters have a blessed day bye!❤🎉
I don’t really like either other than just the original movie but there are certain ones in the movie I like better. I think some movies don’t need to be made into musicals and some musicals don’t need to be movies. Some that did well are Heathers and Beetlejuice. I also think I’m just worn out from all the remakes or reboots and though this isn’t technically a remake of the movie it’s based on the musical it’s all still steaming from the movie. It feels like Hollywood would rather keep retelling old stories than give us fresh new ones. Sometimes I feel like movies/shows should be left where they are and be a window to the past. Movies/shows can be remade when done tastefully which I feel like this movie did well for me it’s hard to get excited about a story that I know how it’s gonna end because I already saw it just in a different font.
The musical recording goes for an hour & six mins, the movie album just goes for longer than half an hour. It's a shame they cut a lot of songs, but im annoyed they didn't give the plastics (Gretchen and Karen) more of a chance to shine
There were definitely some songs I wish they would’ve included (like where do you belong is sooo good) and I wasn’t crazy about some of the lyric and arrangement changes or how they replaced it roars with what ifs BUT overall it was such a fun adaptation that I think sits nicely in the middle between the original and the musical. Because they weren’t doing every song they had more time to recreate iconic lines and scenes and also give space for this cast to make it their own. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely watch it again.
Surprisingly I had no complaints about Mean girls the movie I thought it was really good I liked the song Sexy in there as well, I was upset that they cut out two of my favorite numbers, ‘meet the plastics’ and changed up ‘It roars’ everything else I loved the singing was up to par!
For your first question about the performances of the songs: it wouldn’t have been as bad if the songs they chose helped to move the plot along (ex: even though I do think SGH is a good song and the sequence is shot very well, in the movie it doesn’t fully make sense when you think about how the words to the song basically are saying “yeah I may be mean but y’all made me this way and you all want to use me so at least I’m upfront about it” but using this to taunt Cady with Aaron is a little confusing. I think it would be more impactful into her character’s psyche if it was treated in the way that Gretchen singing “What’s Wrong With Me” in the closet does. Another number that doesn’t really do anything for or against the story. It doesn’t feel like we know this iteration of Gretchen enough to care that she’s insecure in her place in Regina’s life. Also, IRBM doesn’t make sense because it’s basically saying “well, I did nothing wrong and I was the one who got hurt” which Janis already did in the reprise of SGH at Cady’s house party. It also falls flat because it feels like a message to no one in particular whereas in the OG movie (I’ve listened to the Broadway album but haven’t seen the stage production), Janis’ apology makes sense and the song fits that iteration better since she was rumored to be a lesbian even though the movie’s ending suggests that isn’t the case so IRBM from that perspective makes sense because it’s saying “y’all are superficial and judging me because I dress tomboyish” but with the whole thing in this version being that she likes arson, you’d think someone would make a reference to that or at least her clothing choices would look more “fiery” even if that is literal burn holes in some of her fits. The songs they chose to keep outside of maybe two just feel like Glee sequences instead of narrative devices. Also it does suck that they cut out Gretchen and Karen’s introductions in Meet the Plastics because it again doesn’t give enough to show us why they even hang around Regina anyway. They don’t even look like they’d be frenemies because we don’t get to see into their minds about their dynamics. Like SGH even could give us very interesting ideas about how Regina truly feels but the song’s use in the film feels opposite to the words in the actual song. I think how she is alone during World Burn would also be better employed in SGH or at least that should be done in a pre party scene where she is getting ready to go to the party since she explicitly says that her mean girl persona is a defensive mechanism. She could have been getting her outfit together and lamenting to the audience about how the world sees her as mean but they don’t really know how fragile she is (which makes more sense with this version of Regina as not a calculated, socially manipulative, nice-nasty charismatic character but as a kinda bitchy, hot but ultimately uninteresting antagonist) to show us this supposed defense mechanism. I was left wondering "but really from what? What is she so defensive of?" The movie doesn’t make that clear
it would honestly make more sense to have had Regina be canonically a lesbian in this version than for Janis to be one. Because then, it adds depth to her spreading that rumor and the reveal in that scene could be that she made that rumor up about Janis because she was actually a lesbian and was too afraid that Janis wouldn’t want to be HER friend anymore so she sabotaged it. None of the characters' WHY is clear enough, Janis and Damien are treated more like comedic relief/trolls who send her on her journey in a tongue in cheek "dude, you know what would be SO funny" vs the grit of the OG Janis who is also socially manipulative, nice nasty yet charismatic. the pyro lez accusation doesn't feel as personal especially since in this version Janis is an open and proud lesbian so it also makes the sabotage seem more like a silly prank that sure is kinda mean-spirited in nature rather than a concerted and focused strategy. OG Janis gives off Art of War while this movie's rendition of Janis gives off Self Help book. And not to say that there is one way to be gay, but even Gretchen makes more sense to be gay with how the plot is structured. There’s a bit too much focus on Regina and not enough on everyone else to where Regina’s motives/control just seem like non-issues. Like even the Candy Cane scene, it would make more sense (if they were really trying to do something a bit different so it’s not the same 2004 film copy and pasted but with musical elements from the stage production, why not have Gretchen be the one to give Janis some “ammo” if Janis is sweet in this version. Bc even with the rumor, Cravalho’s Janice doesn’t read as unapproachable just a bit unconventional whereas the OG Janis reads as socially intimidating. So then having them “break” Gretchen before Regina’s downfall (which is way more anticlimactic in this version) and having Gretchen have a bit of a scorned unrequited crush thing would give more credibility to why she hangs around Rapp’s Regina despite the fact that she is very rude to her (because they don’t give Queen Bee and her hive of the school, they just feel like a random clique that is just there so it doesn’t do a good job of convincing me at least that there are social privileges that Regina and later Cady offers Gretchen) and since What’s Wrong With Me happens around the time we first see the burn book in the film, they could have tweaked that song (since they tweaked a few of them anyway) to suggest that another insecurity of Gretchen is how she has a crush on her and that’s why her giving Cady all this new attention bothers her. It doesn’t have to play out that way but that is an idea to give Gretchen more to do. Karen is honestly fine since she’s a “third wheel” of the group - in the sense that she doesn’t significantly add to or detract from the dynamic. She gives off “I’m just happy to be here” in both films in my opinion. Damien needs a solo song in the movie or something (he has solo in the Broadway version) because they took out the things from the OG movie for him to do so while he’s funny, we don’t get much commentary from his presence like we did in the original (Janis being mean to Damien but not okay when others are, him being the only boy in the all girls meeting and what that says about the roles in which gay men play in girl drama/girl world, him being so passionate about spring fling). The scenes he’s in are funny, but they don’t work as well without Janis being meaner (to me). Aaron for being the love interest also needs a song or something that at least makes us connect with why Cady wants him so bad. Idk, Aaron was fine but something about the love triangle I wasn’t sold on. Cady is boring as hell. As a lead, she is not the most compelling character in this version. She almost seems to self-aware and secure to even be a plastic in the first place. What makes Lohan’s Cady so excellent is it genuinely sells on the idea that she is socially inept and is learning from everyone how to function in girl world whereas in this version, it gives Deandra the New Girl from MPGiS ep 1 where she tells Trisha “I already know how things work around here in Overland Park”. Her character arc is too flat to make the ending impactful because I do not buy that she learned anything from the experience both in becoming a plastic and unbecoming a plastic. Especially since Regina getting hit by the bus doesn’t even give off the illusion that maybe she might have pushed her (as in, it would be more believable that Lohan’s Cady would have done so because we saw her make a steady progression toward being a plasticy mean girl where with Rice’s it just feels like it happens instantaneously). Another random critique, when Cady hears about why Janis isn’t friends with Regina anymore, the full story should come from Regina instead of Cady being like “oh, I already know about the rumor” and having Damien rip off the bandaid since it followed how Janice didn’t want to talk about it the first time it’s brought up like in the OG movie. Either Regina should have told her a false version of the events to where it makes more sense why Janice/Damien feel like it’s worth clearing it up OR they should have kept the narrative choice to have Cady tell Janice that she wasn’t in the book because this choice even highlights the brilliance in the original depiction of Cady (is she not telling Janice because she considers her a friend and doesn’t want to hurt her feelings, is she not telling her because that’s how you make it in “girl world”, is she not telling her because she might have a suspicion that Janice has ulterior motives and she doesn’t fully trust her). Them having Damien explain it also further paints Janis as a “perfect” victim instead of as someone who is spiteful and vengeful. If the point of the original movie is that there is no villain/victim because they’re ALL mean and one side just has more social power, this movie does not hold that up very well
Can you please do an Eras Analyzed on Lemonade and Renaissance!!! 🙏 love the self titled one ❤
I have a been a huge fan of the musical since it first went on Broadway in 2018, and I just played Cady in a production of it. I enjoyed the movie, and there definitely were standouts for me (Renee as Regina, Auli’i as Janis, and Jaquel as Damian). However, I was also very disappointed because when this movie was first being talked about, it seemed like it was going to be a full version of the musical. It ended up being more of a combination of the OG movie and the musical, they cut out A LOT of the musical material, and they changed the production a ton in a way that I really did not like. A lot of the instruments and elements of the songs that give them their emotion to me were gone. I still was able to have a fun time watching it because I just love the Mean Girls story, but in terms of the fact that us Broadway lovers thought we were getting a full adapation of the musical, it was kind of a letdown.
About the vest thing, Karen couldn’t wear the vest because it was “disgusting” not because it was a vest
Fair… I always took it as she hated it in general since sweatpants in general were banned, and Regina banned Gretchen from hoops in general. Also Regina would “justify” it by saying Karen’s vest was UGLY, so it wasn’t allowed (even though it technically wasn’t allowed bc vests aren’t allowed, not bc it was disgusting). Basically her moving the goal post to rationalize being allowed to wear the sweatpants
For me going into the movie I didnt know this was a musical so the music part was good but as a movie overall I thought it was alright but I do like meangirls 2 over this version.
They needed to add the original party song n keep the og lyrics 😢
Yeah in a way I’m glad I went in blind w the songs bc the broadway fans don’t seem too too impressed by a lot of the changes
Yes !! The cast is amazing ❤ Omg they looked like great friends
Regina and Damian and Karen stood out to me
Gretchen made me feel bad for her the whole movie the actor did amazing at showing the emotion with her what’s wrong with me song
My problem with reboots and remakes is it cant recreate the magic or charisma of the original. In which makes the original more loved. And the reboot shunned. The original mean girls,will always be a classic. Mainly because of the acting, cast and writing. Even the outfits in mean girls is iconic.Hollywood needs to realize in order to create more classics. It has to be original. Which is the reason why mean girls and so many other movies are considered iconic and classic. For 2024 and onward Hollywood needs to start investing in more original writers and ideas. Because these reboots and remakes. AINT IT
as someone who loves musical theatre this is my opinion (and i see this reflected a lot) - i don't want movie adaptations of musicals, they often don't work and have to include a lot of cuts and changes. they can still be fun, but what i'd prefer are proshots, or professional/high quality filming of the stage show instead of a screen adaptation like hamilton, shrek the musical, newsies, etc. all having a stage performance filmed so they can maintain the energy and performance quality that is normally pretty inaccessible being on broadway
I think the issue with this film (and other musical adaptations) is that they are scared to be full on musicals. i think that if the movie commits to the musical aspect and adds its own twist to the musical it can become as iconic and remarkable as the source material
This movie won't premiere until February in my country so I still have to wait:( but I think it's reaaally hard to live up to the original, specially as a musical. They are still kinda niche, or simply not liked by many, but since it's such an iconic movie it received much more attention than if it had been advertised as a musical from the beginning(maybe), that alone set it up for disappointment.
I think knowing what you're going into, or having no expectations at all and just hoping to have fun is the best attitude to have in this situation. We get so many remakes and spin offs, we should know better by now not to get our hopes too high
I liked it a lot honestly. Was entertaining and fun asf. I think people have too high expectations and don’t see this movie for what it is💀like obviously it won’t beat the original but that’s honestly not what the purpose of this film was. And it’s pretty frustrating seeing people be so dense about it not being a remake of the original but an adaptation of the broadway version😭
I always assumed Cady saying she was from Africa was more like "oh, they will never understand if I say Zimbabwe so I'll just say Africa" like a joke on the lack of culture (like the "why are u white?" question thing)
I really loved this movie.. im a big musical fan I love broadway and I love musicals and singing in general. My overall thoughts of the movie was that the casting was great, the singing/music was nice also great choreography/directing, I think it’s just good. Some things I didn’t like was the use of social media it felt like they were trying to be too modern idk.. also the Lindsay cameo had me screaming!!!!!
I feel the same way you do about reboots…I feel like they all are terrible nowadays. And I also LOVE the original mean girls and was very unsure about out seeing this one because I’m not really into musicals. The only ones I ever liked were Grease and Rocky horror. But after watching this, maybe I’ll check it out, especially since you said it’s not over “musical”. Thanks for doing this video, you changed my mind about seeing the new mean girls.
You really made me realize just how clever the way they modernized the plot was (RIP to malls) and how the changes really highlight the generational differences. Regarding Regina not being homophobic in the new version: In my personal experience I've dealt with a lot of phobic people who say they're "allies" in public and are totally homophobic behind closed doors/privately, it's mostly people who know they'll be disliked if they're phobic TBH. Semi related but it's also worth noting that Avantika (Karen) said she sees Karen as being pan *and* when they make the comment about her sleeping with 11 people it's *people* and not guys and so I think, and this is just me going off like vibes so it's not researched, that Regina would probably not be homophobic and would just be kind of mean/awful to everyone equally. 2004 Regina was hella homophobic though and as someone who went to high school in the early 2000s when homophobia was widely acceptable and wouldn't make you unpopular it rang true, whew!
The Broadway musical is so much more fun than this and I do miss Stop and Where Do You Belong? especially (though I understand why they cut them). I also think that Stupid With Love is so much better in the Broadway version. Something is also lost inosing the reprised for Stupid With Love and What's Wrong With Me? in terms of Aaron's character, Gretchen's and especially Regina's mom. Still, I did enjoy this movie and the audience I saw it with was laughing and enjoying it too. Oh, and even though I think you're right that they don't specifically mention Kenya in the original film, Cady does say "Jambo" which is a Swahili word which means her and her parenta were likely in Kenya or Tanzania.
Also, Cady's first crush in the 2004 version spoke Afrikaans which is spoken in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I think the reason they just said she was from Africa in the original was because her character had moved around to various African countries, as well as setting up the joke where Karen says, "So if you're from Africa, why are you white?" which was cut out from the 2024 version probably for being racial.
It was a cute companion to the original movie! I don’t think it was as strong as a stand-alone. Especially because the message (the inner workings of girl world) was diluted. Still enjoyable!
I'm pretty sure "vest" doesn't mean sweater vest, it's like the tank top vest (arguably the least flattering type of tight fitting top, as the straps rarely work for anyone). At least that's how I interpreted it in the first movie. Cute tees and spaghetti straps are okay, vests are a no no.
omg you brought up so many points i didn’t even think about!
i saw the movie today and honestly i enjoyed it so much more than i thought i would. it made me laugh a lot and smile. and renee rapp was amazing as regina. rachel mcadams is still the best regina but renee did rlly good!
The original is my all time favourite film but I was really looking forward to this version, it's obviously not a patch on the original but it's not trying to be, its just a bit of fun. I've been to see it twice and actually enjoyed it more second time round because there's a lot of visual flourishes in the background of the musical segments that you miss first time around. It's quite self aware of how silly it is, especially during "What's Wrong With Me" when Cady is just looking at Gretchen like "wtf" while she's singing 😂 "Sexy" is the highlight of the movie and I love how they tied Regina's accident in with "I'd Rather Be Me", it hits quite hard when it happens.
Admittedly they've sanded the edge off the humour and the nastiness, and the last song is a bit of a dud. Also I think some of the bits that have been completely copied from the original feel a little too much like a Mean Girls cosplay too. But I can see myself rewatching this version a few times because its so fun and uplifting.
“Mean Girls 2024” has been gradually losing momentum at the box office. The reasons have been discussed at length. Meanwhile true sleeper hit romcom “Anyone but You” has held steady well into its run! making $103.9 million as of 26 January worldwide so far on a $25 million budget.
* Spoilers Ahead * From a romcom superfan-of romcoms from the 1930s to the present. I love “Anyone but You”, and here are numerous things I like about this romcom for this new era and so popular now with Gen Z and a true box office success!
1. Director Will Gluck Easter eggs for “Easy A”: Ojai T-shirt and numerous shots of oranges. “Easy A” is set in Ojai, California and Gluck tried to include many oranges in scenes.
2. The meet cute scene at the cafe (one of many romcom tropes I fully embrace in the film).
3. Bea’s sex-like gymnastics above Ben on the plane after stealing his cookie.
4. The use of “Unwritten”, beginning in the airline scene. Which becomes a glorious leitmotif song for the movie-and a TikTok phenomenon!
5. Gorgeous Alexandra Shipp and Hadley Robinson as the loving wedding couple-indeed, all the couples in the movie including the parents.
6. GaTa as the loyal, clever, irrepressible best friend.
7. Ben’s vulnerabilities of being older, fit-looking but “hot girl fit” aka no cardio aka no endurance.
8. The romantic yacht dance Bea and Ben share, “Titanic”, and the night harbor scene. The Opera House backdrop to our two lovers on a buoy is iconic. As is the helicopter rescue to the song “Unwritten”-followed by that sexy shower scene.
9. The audacious leap off the cliff leading to the second chopper airlift of Ben to the Opera House for that exhilarating declaration of love and kissing and Bea saying, “Tomorrow, running for Mr. No Cardio”.
10. The whole end scene done to “Unwritten.
11. The other songs besides leitmotif tune “Unwritten”, as well as the film’s music score…
12. The heady romance of it all!
Almost every change was for the worse, with the exception of a couple that tone down the early 2000s casually bigoted/insensitive jokes. The coach and student sleeping together, yeah, no. Janice being actually lesbian? Cool.
Otherwise they cut out and changed a lot of meaningful scenes which ruin the pacing and the impact of the messaging towards the end of the film. They removed Cady's dad but her mom has way less of a presence than she did with the father originally. Cady also never gets grounded so her going to the Spring Fling after mathletes doesn't make her mom look for her, allowing her to see how her daughter is trying to fix her ways. She just sort of makes a similar, but worse, speech and breaks up the crown, even though we haven't seen anywhere near enough of Cady as being mean/putting other girls down and reflecting on this, so it just kind of comes out of nowhere. Plus they removed the part where the first piece of the crown is given to a girl with a disability, whom Cady addresses by name and compliments, showing she is attentive and sweet despite her recent phase. This is just gone, like she doesn't know a single person at that school, is she even popular in this version? It's not really that believable. It's just too sudden, everything with her character.
They also beat you over the head with callbacks, like having a chorus sing "October 4th" and Damien say "she doesn't go here" TWICE, with it being incredibly forced and unfunny the second time.
Tina Fey's characters also has way less of a relationship with Cady, no longer giving her the same advice during the "I'm a pusher" talk, no longer saying "I'm really disappointed, Cady" in the gym, etc. The teacher was supposed to be a complete foil to the Plastics, a sort of surrogate mother who's lived far longer than her friends and knows better. She cares about Cady and has her best interest at heart, guiding her through an unfamiliar environment. Part of Cady's growth is understanding that she was ultimately a better role model than the Plastics, the far more destructive guide to the American experience she instead decided to follow.
The Plastics and Damien were the only characters cast well imo.
Cady's songs sucked, and I despised that corny Sesame Street ass song Janice sang about being herself. Not only is it out of character but it's so lame, not the punkish, rebellious anthem it's trying to be. It sounds like it was meant for preschoolers, doesn't help that it's literally Moana singing it.
I looooooooved it ❤
The eye makeup is a nod to jaw breaker. They had a few other teen movie nods.
3:34 it’s not that I’m disappointed that not every song in the Broadway soundtrack appeared in the movie…as far as adapting musicals to the screen goes, I understand that movies and musicals are different, and that changes will need to be made in order to create a successful movie. However, I’m more disappointed by the way these songs were arranged and more specifically by Angourie Rice’s less than steller vocal performance…she’s a great actor, but not a strong singer, and because of that I can’t help but wish they had cast someone who was trained in musical theater. Side tangent aside, the best musical adaptions should be able to take the original songs and elevate them somehow: to offer an interpretation of the source material that is new and exciting. Personally, a lot of these instrumental and style changes did not make the songs more compelling, but instead took away from what was originally good about these songs in the first place.