Copy edited by Samia Orva

Overall soundtrack rating: 6.5/10

As many know, a film adaptation of the Mean Girls Broadway musical, based on Mark Waters’s 2004 film by the same name, was just released in theaters on January 12th. There has been a lot of speculation on this remake. Many felt the vocals (among other things) did not meet their expectations. While the movie itself was fairly entertaining, the “musical” aspect of this film was definitely lacking, especially on Angourie Rice’s part. 

This production starts off weak with “What Ifs” as one of the leading songs. From here on out, it becomes clear to the viewer that Rice is lacking in comparison to her fellow cast members.  She proceeds with another tough listen, “Stupid with Love,” as well as “I See Stars” later on. Rice’s execution of “Stupid with Love”  is poor at best, making an already irritating song more unbearable. The same can be said for “I See Stars,” in which Rice’s overly soft and high pitched voice turns this track into a frustration. However, this does not signify that Rice is untalented, but rather that she is just not as skilled as needed for such a role.

 It is fair to say that it took the help of other lead roles, namely Janis and Regina’s actresses to save the movie. More specifically, the songs “Someone Gets Hurt,” “World Burn,” and “I’d Rather Be Me,” stand out in comparison to the rest of the film’s theatrical elements. “Someone Gets Hurt” easily becomes the musical’s best song, wowing the audience with Reneé Rapp’s powerful voice.  The song revolves around Regina George’s pain in discovering her ex boyfriend is now interested in her new friend, Cady Heron. Regina is left feeling betrayed and undermined, ready to get even.  Rapp perfectly executes the anger of the lyrics, conveying its harsh tone exactly as need be.

However, as soon as Regina  discovers she has been tricked by one of her new friends, Rapp’s next song comes on, quickly becoming the audience’s new favorite. “World Burn” illuminates Rapp’s talent, leaving viewers impressed by her intense emotion and impact on the movie.

“World Burn” is then followed by Auliʻi Cravalho’s big solo, “I’d Rather Be Me,” making it clear that there is more to this movie’s cast than meets the eye. Cravalho is able to show the same level of frustration as Rapp, doing the song justice. This track puts emphasis on how far Janis’s character has come, showing her newfound acceptance of herself. On top of Rapp and Cravalho, Avantika Vandanapu (playing Karen Shetty) and Bebe Wood (playing Gretchen Wieners) help this movie — more specifically with Vandanapu’s funny solo, “Sexy,” and Wood’s relatable solo, “What’s Wrong with Me?”.  Vandanapu represents her character’s obtuse personality just as it should be, using facial expressions as well as her singing tone to portray an unintelligent demeanor.  Wood is also able to illustrate her character on point, using the desperation in her voice to depict Gretchen’s insecure disposition. 

Other songs like “A Cautionary Tale,” “Meet The Plastics,” “Apex Predator,” and “Revenge Party” are all decent, but not on the same level as the Mean Girls Broadway performances they were based off of.  Many viewers found it particularly disappointing when almost all of “Meet The Plastics” was cut out, leaving only Regina’s portion of the song. 

All in all, this movie’s soundtrack could have been better, but was not entirely a fail. While getting through all of Cady Heron’s solos is definitely not an easy task, other aspects of this movie’s soundtrack made the wait worthwhile. Main roles like Regina George, Janis Ian, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith, pleasantly guided this film in a better direction. These characters served as the foundation for this movie, and without them it would not be able to compete with its Broadway origins.