Mean Girls

I have never actually seen the original Mean Girls (one of my former colleagues was absolutely incredulous when she heard this) but I love the stage musical, especially the song "World Burn," so I was really excited to see the new adaptation yesterday.  I thought it was a lot of fun.  Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) has recently moved back to the U.S. from Kenya, where she was home schooled, and is finding North Shore High School to be as brutal as the African plains.  Two social outcasts, Janis 'Imi'ike (Auli'i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), attempt to help her fit in and advise her to avoid The Plastics, a clique made up of Regina George (Renee Rapp), Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood), and Karen Shetty (Avantika).  Regina shows an interest in Cady and allows her to sit with her and her friends at lunch until she discovers that Cady likes her former boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), and takes him back.  Cady devises a plan for revenge against Regina and, when it is successful, she takes her place as the leader of The Plastics.  However, this alienates her real friends Janis and Damian, angers Aaron, and disappoints her Calculus teacher Ms. Norbury (Tina Fey).  A math competition shows her that it is better to be yourself than to pretend to be someone else to fit in.  I was a little bit disappointed that two of my favorite songs from the musical, "Where Do You Belong?" when Damian describes all of the cliques at school to Cady and "Fearless" when Gretchen and Karen finally stand up to Regina, were cut but I really loved the staging of the musical numbers that remain because the camera work and choreography are very dynamic, especially in "A Cautionary Tale" and "What Ifs" because it is one long continuous take from a garage to the plains of Africa to North Shore High School, "Apex Predator" because the camera follows Regina through the school as her classmates mimic the actions of animals who are afraid of her, "Revenge Party" because it is an explosion of pastel as Janis and Damian fantasize about getting even with Regina, and, of course, my favorite song "World Burn" because it is so chaotic as the students discover what has been written about them in the Burn Book.  I liked all of the performances from the cast (including hilarious small moments from Busy Philipps as Regina's mom, Tim Meadows as Principal Duvall, and Jon Hamm and Ashley Park as teachers) but my favorites were from Cravalho because she is both fierce and vulnerable, especially in "I'd Rather Be Me," and Rapp because, in addition to her powerful voice, she is incredibly charismatic and commands the screen with attitude to spare.  I obviously cannot compare it to the original movie but I thoroughly enjoyed this version and would recommend it (especially to fans of the musical).