A ChucksConnection Film Review

 

Auli'i Cravalho wears yeoow, red, and black platform high top Converse “Chuck Taylor” All Stars in the film.

Mean Girls 2024

 

by Marcus Angulo

Janice starts out wearing yellow chucks in the film.

 

So we all know that remakes are inevitable. Hollywood loves taking the easy way out and rehashing a popular franchise with either a legacy sequel, reboot, or full-blown remake. New ideas are just too risky so why not play it safe with a redo that we know people will love? Twenty years ago, Paramount took a chance on a Tina Fey script and produced Mean Girls. This paid off and not only was the film a hit at the time, but it has become an all-time classic in the decades since and a staple of internet culture. The film's staying power over the years led Fey to adapt the story to the stage as a Broadway musical, which was super successful and beloved in its own right. This gave Paramount just enough reason to remake the film with a new twist, and here we are. Mean Girls (2024) is a teen musical comedy based on the musical of the same name based on the film of the same name. Written by Tina Fey, the film stars a stacked cast of Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Jon Hamm, Tim Meadows, and Tina Fey.

Janice and Damian show Cady the ropes .

Cady Heron (Rice) is a sixteen-year-old girl who has spent most of her young life being homeschooled by her mother (Fischer) while they lived in Africa. After twelve years abroad, the pair move to Evanston, Illinois where Cady must join North Shore High School. Her first day is an utter disaster until she befriends the school’s resident outsiders, Janis ’Imi’ike (Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Spivey). They take Cady under their wings and teach her everything she needs to know about North Shore. They introduce her to the various cliques and warn her about the “Plastics”. The “Plastics” are a clique consisting of the rich gossiper Gretchen Wieners (Wood), sweet but dumb Karen Shetty (Avantika), and the “Queen Bee” Regina George (Rapp) who is “evil incarnate” according to Janis and Damian. Regina invites Cady to sit with the “Plastics” and seems nice enough. Janis tells Cady that that’s just for appearances though but that this could be their opportunity to spy on them. Cady also starts crushing on Aaron Samuels (Briney), a senior in her math class and Regina’s ex-boyfriend.

 

True friendship is plotting revenge at lunch.

 

As Cady starts hanging with the “Plastics”, she doesn't see what’s so bad about the group. At first, Regina is nice and even willing to help Cady get Aaron to like her back. However, Regina uses this to get back with Aaron and break Cady’s heart at the Halloween party. Cady resolves to end the “Plastics” with Janis and Damien’s help, breaking up the group and humiliating Regina in the process. However, this goal leads Cady down an unexpected path where she actually begins to act like a “Plastic” herself. She likes dressing up, gossiping, and being a mean girl. Will she ever be able to go back to being her old self, or is this new version of her who she was always meant to be?

 

Even Regina has a pair of black chucks in her closet.

 

This movie suffered out of the gate because Paramount purposely misled audiences into thinking this was a standard remake and omitted that it was a musical. None of the trailers included the songs or musical numbers to show that this was indeed something different. This led to some people walking out during showings because they did not like musicals. This was unfair to the talented cast who truly did bring something new and wonderful to this story. Reneé Rapp is a pure immovable force of star power and she is this movie. She was amazing as Regina on Broadway and is just as great here, bringing an energy that is different from Rachel McAdams but is still iconic. Another highlight is Avantika as Karen who is just as lovable as she was twenty years ago. The rest of the cast have great moments as well, and they all brought something new to their roles. Having to add the musical numbers hurts some of the pacing the original film had and some key stuff from the musical was cut, most notably Karen and Gretchen’s verses on “Meet the Plastics”. These issues don’t detract though from what is a fun take on a classic. However, twenty years later one thing remains true: Fetch is never going to happen Gretchen.

Best Chucks Scene

Janis and Damian kill this number and possibly Regina.

 

The best chucks scene in the movie comes during the number “Revenge Party”. Regina has just stabbed Cady in the back by getting back with Aaron despite knowing Cady liked him. Cady runs to Janis and Damian and they concoct a plan of revenge against the Queen Bee. During this extended number, Janis wears her black platform chucks in fantastical scenes where there is an actual party happening in the school hallways, complete with bright colors and decorations. The choreography is amazing and the vocals from Auliʻi Cravalho are as incredible as always. Janis wears chucks in most scenes in the movie, opting for a wide variety of colors like yellow, red, and black. However, these black platform chucks stand out in this scene and show her dark, rebellious spirit amongst the bright colors.

Black platform chucks stand out among a kaleidoscope of color.

Support the film industry by purchasing genuine DVD, Blue Ray, or streaming copies of these films. Illegal copies only help profiteers. Make sure your money goes to the producers and artists who actually create these films. Still images from the film are used here as teasers to get you to view an authorized copy. If you have information about a film where a main character wears chucks, contact us at films@chucksconnection.com.

Purchase chucks, shoelaces, and books about chucks.
High Tops	Low Tops	Shoelaces Page	Books