Mean Girls (2024) (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
20 years ago, Mean Girls made its way into film pop culture. The lines were quoted, the cast and creators praised and then the film spent its years being shown on TV, being purchased on physical media, and reaching so many people over time that the original film is now a catalyst for modern coming-of-age films. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2018, where it was a big success. So, naturally, the film version came to be at the start of 2024. The film managed to make a few bucks and surprise quite a few people who didn’t seem to realize the film was a musical retelling of the original. I was one of the few bemoaning that there was no need for remakes, a movie musical or anything else like that. Admittedly, this won’t be the first or last time that I eat crow on my pre-destined opinions. Read further on the film below and be sure to click the cover art at the end to access a paid Amazon link to order your own copy of Mean Girls.
Film 
From the comedic mind of Tina Fey comes a new twist on the modern classic MEAN GIRLS. New student Cady Heron is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called “The Plastics,” ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis and Damian, she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.
Following almost the exact trajectory of the original Mean Girls, the new musical version adds social media to the fold, and its villain, Regina George, is more vulnerable this time around. It’s clear that Renee Rapp’s version is more guarded and “mean” because of her own self esteem issues. She is not a skinny, perfect person. She has flaws, and the beauty of that for me anyway is seeing her own downfall as people begin to take their own power back as she begins to change. Cady is quiet in the beginning, mildly louder towards the end, but her descent into becoming a “Plastic” is not as big a spin as the original. Cady feels like the supporting character this time around, and that is OK too.
Damien and Janis take larger roles and fill them with pizazz and more of a clear queerness that makes their characters fresh. The remaining “Plastics” are fantastic caricatures more than characters. Each friend group provides some solid laughs all the same. The film runs a bit longer due to songs, but with essentially the same storyline, it sometimes makes it feel like you could make your choice and still find the same ending.
That brings me to the songs… These are easily the weakest parts of the film. The musical numbers are blandly staged, and although Rapp and Auli’I Cravalho are vocal powerhouses, they aren’t given much to do. The rest of the cast is fine at singing also, but they too don’t have much to do. The songwriting isn’t as strong as I’d hoped and although I never saw the Broadway show, there’s no doubt in my mind that they were staged differently there. This does mean that most of the musical moments in the film bog down the runtime and make it a hard sell for those who aren’t into musicals. It seems that the marketing team for Mean Girls was onto something when they decided to not mention that the film was a musical, as that was absent from all teaser marketing and even some in-release marketing.
Music aside, I have no real complaints about Mean Girls. I do stand by my assertion that the film wasn’t necessary, but I do like Renee Rapp, Auli’I Cravalho, and Jaquel Spivey as Regina, Janis and Damian respectively. They do some actual work with their characters and don’t recycle them as caricatures. Tina Fey’s screenplay and book work but again, the music is not wonderful in my opinion, and will definitely drive some people away from watching the film. But with an open mind, you will like the remainder, and will be glad that musical moments are also fleeting in the finished film.
Video
Stills are for promotional use only and not from the 4K UHD Blu-ray
Encoding: HEVC/H.265
Resolution: 4K
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
HDR: Dolby Vision
Layers: BD-100
Clarity/Detail: Mean Girls looks like a modern film, shot digitally. This can be a blessing for sharp, crisp detail and can be tough for other moments. Several moments involving CGI look blurry and almost made me look away. Straight ahead film footage looks healthier and more grounded in reality, with good detail in school scenes and scenes filmed in homes or outdoors.
Depth: Just as I stated above, there are a few moments involving some questionable CGI that blur the film a bit, but this isn’t an imminent hindrance to the movie overall. One wishes more time were taken to make things look more seamless, but who knows the film’s budget or timeline?
Color Reproduction: Mean Girls does have some very nice color grading. Shades of red, pink, blue and black all fare well, as do more natural browns and greens!
Black Levels: Black levels don’t reveal crushing and look about as good as they can.
Flesh Tones: Made up or otherwise, flesh tones look natural and nice with no issues.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Dynamics: Mean Girls comes to 4K with a Dolby Atmos mix. The music is the star of the show of course, with what sounds to me like a more static usage of channels to expand the soundtrack to an immersive capacity, but not giving much else up top or in the surrounds.
Height: Music, some slight ambience and not much else reside here.
Low-Frequency Extension: There is some nice punchy bass whenever a music cue calls for it. Besides that, bass moments aren’t all that abundant.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surround sound usage is like the height channels with light ambience and music spreading out to surround the listener.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue and singing is often dead center with nothing missed in the reproduction.
Extras
Extras on Mean Girls cover the gamut of making-of, choreography, songs, the differences between the original film and the new musical, the cast, extended scenes, a gag reel, a music video and a feature to make each musical moment a sing-along.
- A New Age of Mean Girl—Tina Fey, the cast, and crew discuss a new take on the Mean Girls story and how the drama at North Shore high would unfold in the age of social media.
- Song and Dance—A behind-the-scenes look of what it took to bring the big musical numbers of Mean Girls (2024) to life. We hear from the directors, the choreographer, and the cast about how they prepped and reimagined the classic film with musical elements.
- The New Plastics—The new cast dives into their memories of watching the original film, their favorite moments/lines, what character they identified with, and what it meant to be cast in the musical.
- Gag Reel— Some of the best moments happen behind the scenes!
- Not My Fault – Music Video with Reneé Rapp and Megan Thee Stallion
- Extended Scene – I’m Having a Small Get Together at My House
- Mean Girls Sing-Along with Select Songs
This 4K edition comes with a slipcover and digital code, but no HD Blu-ray disc.
Summary
Love it or hate it, we have a film version of Mean Girls: The Musical. Renee Rapp delivers the goods as Regina George with a few other great performances as well. I didn’t care for the songs much at all, but the newer touches are somewhat refreshing. Fans of musicals need not hesitate to grab a copy of this one. Those who are more apt to flee from random outbursts of song may want to steer clear. For me this one is recommended with a few caveats.
