 What's going on guys welcome back to the channel critical overload here, so this will be a spoiler for spoiler-free review for the Reimagining I guess I should call it of mean girls that's dropping this week directed by Samantha Jane and Arturo Perez It is once again written by Tina Fey who stars alongside Tim Meadows once again The only two people I think we're prizing their roles and I will say there are a few surprises, too So stay tuned and pay very close attention to the movie now This film as you know similar to the other one revolves around new student Katie Herron who is welcome into the top of the social Food chain by the elite group of popular girls called the plastics ruled by the conniving Queen B Regina George and her minions Gretchen and Karen However, when Katie makes the major misstep of falling for Regina's ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels She finds herself prey in Regina's crosshairs as Katie says to take down the group's apex predator with the help of her Outcast friends Janice and Damien she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all high school now, of course This film is starring in Gary Rice Renee rap again like I mentioned Tina Fey Tim Meadows again and some other surprising stars now I Will say I was not expecting the Yesification of mean girls to be the first good movie of the year But here we are the original film means so much to me as I'm sure it does to countless people who got to experience it Back in the early 2000s this film which is based on the Broadway musical I believe manages to pay respect to that original and is now the second best film entry in this series I guess yes for those unaware there was actually an awful sequel released back in 2011 or so It was very dark times. We try not to remember it now as far as musicals go I see myself revisiting this purely because of its ties to the og But I was very impressed with the musical editions and the costume design for the most part Obviously Renee rap put everyone else to shame, but I'll get back to that. I think most people listening right now know that this story like a Religion to them almost, you know it front and back like me now None more than the returning screenwriter like I pointed out Tina Fey who also again returns at Miss Norbury It's mostly retelling of that cult classic with adjustments to be more inclusive and it works for the most part I would say I wasn't too fond of certain jokes being removed like the Michigan joke for instance But it's replaced with some humorous bits from Principal Duvall who again is once portrayed once again portrayed by Tim Meadows Katie's dad is also gone. So I'm not gonna be shocked for those who watch. I can see where you're coming from I'm on the same page too. There's clearly some Agenda pushing going on here some pandering if you will in the mix of the screenplay still Katie's Inexperience after spending her youth being homeschooled shines our iconic plastic still slay and Regina George's Queen Beast that is has been turned up Thanks to the character being treated almost like a force of nature. I would say don't get me wrong I still prefer the original film completely But this new take presents Regina with a few extra Exclamation marks is all I'm trying to get at from the introductory song all the way into the bus incident Regina comes across as superior to everyone else just a little bit better than in the 2004 film Regina's only negative for me was this car scene where I was like, why is she driving this thing? It just didn't seem like any it just didn't seem like it fit the character It felt like an injustice to her honestly and lucky lucky it didn't kill anything about the character in her Momentum in the long run for me They also seem to give Damien a lot more to do which in turn makes the character that much more lovable and memorable Than ever before if you didn't make you laugh countless times before this updated Damien is a true crowd-pleaser and still came through with the iconic She doesn't go here line Now the inclusion of social media added an extra layer to the toxicity of the story as expected When it relates to things like the burn book and the rumors within it the feminism theme staying true to yourself All of those are still handled pretty well overall the story isn't as funny as the original but multiple moments managed to make me chuckle and They weren't ill-timed jokes. They just were not ill-timed the comedy works. It just wasn't as funny I did mention mostly being impressed with the music and while that is true Some of it didn't mesh well with the story at times one moment at Aaron's party being the standout for me where Renee sings her heart out It just felt a little bit out of place Honestly without looking at the track list the only memorable songs do indeed come from Renee But that's not shocking at all. If they eliminated the musical aspect you'd still have a competent remake on your hands for the most part And there's no denying that and Gary Rice captures Katie's cultural ignorance with ease and the transition into being plastic is portrayed very well The innocence displayed early on by Rice keeps Katie likeable It makes her inevitable transition disappointing as it should since Rice successfully makes me care about Katie's journey Similar to how low-handed Lindsey that being back in the original Tina Fey nails it as Ms. Norbury once again surprise surprise Tim Meadows delivers a solid return to the series as well and BV Woods portrayal of Gretchen Wieners was absolutely amazing I only wish they let her explore the cracking of the character a little more because I think Lacey Chaibir Chaibir would dig what BV delivered here now For the main event of the evening Renee Rapp crushed this role I'm not gonna say Regina George belongs to her now because she can share the crown with Rachel But guys she devoured this movie the singing was fired the whole ear to now attitude She kept it all of that very well, and it was just a really impressive portrayal of Regina George by her now the line delivery I would say at times is inferior to what Rachel McAdams did back in 2004 But still a lot of the delivery and most of the delivery from the most part from her is is a great work She did a phenomenal job. Obviously the singing was the highlight. She is gonna be a lot of people's preferred Regina She's not my preferred. I would still prefer Rachel, but she did a phenomenal job in the role She can share the crown with Rachel and I can see Gen Z just eating this up with what they did with her Now all in all the costume design. I thought that was very impressive I can't wait to see what everybody else thought about the costume designs I was really impressed with it a few people when I was leaving my screening They didn't seem to really like the costume designs I didn't mind it about the cinematography was well done a lot of great camera work Especially when it comes to tracking the characters and letting you getting immersed in the musical numbers and letting the choreography Just kind of take you over The whole film I would say all in all is a W. I would give it a solid 7 out of 10 It's not a terrible film again It's the first W for me of 2024 as it comes to movies because the horror genre has sadly been slacking with what they've been giving us to start off the new year, but we still have Max seem to look forward to but you guys can let me know What do you what do you think about mean girls when you see it later this week? Do you like it? Do you not like it? Did you actually attend the Broadway musical that this is based off of it? How does this compare to that if you're someone who gets to see the movie and you actually in attendance for the play? Let me know what you think about all this down the conversation below What do you think about also those changes to the jokes that I've talked about how they eliminated the race joke? They eliminated some other jokes Katie's dad. I believe was also gone. What are your thoughts on all of that? It's still a passable movie. It's a 7 out of 10 to me Let me know down in the comment section below if you haven't already of course make sure you subscribe turn on post notification There's a video in the description. I've linked some social media accounts I am on Facebook Twitter and Instagram you can message me there of course There's any movies news or reviews you would like me to cover in the future and with all that in mind guys I will see you in the next video