Mean Girls. PG, 112 minutes, four stars
Few teen comedies are as quotable as the 2004 classic Mean Girls.
Anyone in high school around that time could barely go a day without hearing "she doesn't even go here" or "you can't sit with us" bandied about.
Such was the popularity of the film, that writer Tina Fey adapted the story as a musical for Broadway.
Now, we've come full circle, and that Broadway musical has been adapted for the big screen, with Fey still on board as scribe and co-star in her original role of Ms Norbury.
The new Mean Girls sees Aussie rising star Angourie Rice (who's already made a big splash in the likes of The Nice Guys, three Spider-Man films and on exceptional crime drama Mare of Easttown) step into Lindsay Lohan's shoes as the lead Cady Heron.
Cady is getting her first taste of the American high school experience after growing up homeschooled in Africa. The cliques and conventions of schooling life are completely foreign to her, so artsy outcasts Janis and Damian (scene-stealing pair Auli'i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey) help her navigate the social hierarchy.
It doesn't take long for Cady to catch the attention of the "Plastics" - the three mean girls who rule the school: Gretchen (Bebe Wood, delivering her lines exactly like Lacey Chabert in the original film), Karen (Avantika, putting her own spin on the dumb ditz character originated by Amanda Seyfried) and of course the queen bee herself, Regina George (Reneé Rapp, who played the role on Broadway before making her film debut here).
Janis, Damian and Cady concoct a plan for the latter to ingratiate herself with the Plastics and destroy them from the inside - but Cady finds the allure of popularity and status a little too enticing, especially when she sets her sights on Regina's ex, Aaron Samuels (The Summer I Turned Pretty star Christopher Briney taking on the Jonathan Bennett role).
Mean Girls manages to recreate the same biting, hilarious satire of high school life that its namesake achieved 20 years earlier, with some slightly refreshed characterisations and the Gen Z updates.
As all that was fashionable in the early 2000s has come back around again, so many of the costume choices feel almost identical to the original, which is a warm note of nostalgia for Millennial viewers. Particularly Regina's styling towards the end - the iconic off the shoulder black top with bra straps showing - really hits the spot.
The musical nature of the film makes the jungle scenes arguably even more effective than the original, as what's some imagined monkey business when everyone is breaking into song?
Rice does a fine job with her songs, without blowing them out the water, while Rapp certainly sounds good, but her enunciation is more pop vocal than musical theatre. Gretchen's solo song is probably the weakest of the entire film, but it does effectively further her character, while Karen's is the most ridiculous and fun.
But Cravalho is easily the standout vocalist. We already knew she had great pipes from her work as Moana, but she gets even more chance to shine here. Janis and Damian were the best characters from the original, and continue to be highlights in this adaptation.
The film kicks off with a delightful reference to original Janis, Lizzy Caplan, and her appearance in Cloverfield. These sorts of layered jokes are particularly satisfying, and gets Mean Girls off to a great start.
Most of the biggest lines from the original get their moments to shine, from "get in, loser" and "stop trying to make fetch happen" to "grool" and "October 3rd", but some other memorable moments are curiously absent, like the "word vomit" gag and Karen's meteorological mammaries.
It's a joy to se Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their roles for this iteration, but they're not the only big names in the adult cast - there's also a perfectly cast Busy Philipps as Mrs George, Jon Hamm, Ashley Park and Jenna Fischer. But the biggest joy comes from a perfect cameo towards the end of the film - expect rampant applause in the cinema.
