Mean Girls Review!

 Alright! Today I am reviewing a 2004 teen comedy movie starring Lindsey Lohan and written by Tina Fey. You may have heard of it - Mean Girls. And, let me just say. I had pretty high expectations for my first watch, and the movie basically did... better than I ever could have thought. 

Let's just start with a blanket statement and say that most comedies from the early 2000s are not that funny. And teen romance films from the early 2000s are also not that great. I'm thinking Penelope, The Princess Diaries, What A Girl Wants, and A Cinderella Story. 

But, Mean Girls is about the previously homeschooled Cady Heron and her journey from a naive nice person, who, after tasting the corruption of power and influence, becomes the "Queen bee" in her school's social hierarchy. 

On one hand, it's a really good story. On the other hand, seeing our protagonist go from likable to really, really mean made the entire movie somewhat sad to watch, which is weird since it's a comedy. Comedy sadness with purpose, I guess. 

The setup is good. But, I am currently in high school, and, from what I can remember from last year, school is not as heavily segregated as North Shore High School, where the lunch tables are divided very strictly into "Asia Nerds," "Cool Asians", "Varsity Jocks," "Unfriendly black hotties," "Girls who eat their feelings," "Desperate wannabees," and "The burnouts." Actually, scratch that last one, that does exist. 

There aren't so many cliques, per se, as there are "People who came from the same class and sit together." But I get it, every teen comedy movie needs a socially divided high school. 

Still the most accurate high school movie ever made, though. 

I don't care how popular the winter parade/talent show is, these costumes would never fly in a school.

And speaking more on the comedy aspect of the movie, this movie absolutely delivers. Anything Tina Fey touches apparently turns to comedy gold... I laughed so hard at this movie. There are so many memorable lines and characters here it's insane. 

The movie is an instant classic. It has tried and true physical comedy, sharp witty comedy, even some of the cringe comedy (Jingle Bell Rock) that The Office would later popularize.

And this movie has a ton of great characters and some great casting. We have just the right amount of SNL crew, including Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, and Amy Poehler, a pre-crazy Lindsey Lohan, as well as Amanda Seyfried and Rachel McAdams (Who was also in The Notebook, another 2004 release). 

Basically, every character is a scene-stealer. It's always great when that happens. My personal favorite character was the principal (Tim Meadows), who had some of the funniest lines of the movie. I was laughing the entire time he was on screen. 

Meet the man of the hour.

If I had any criticisms, it would be that the film hits a snag once it hits the halfway point. The hilarious "New fish in the pond" thing wears off once Cady transforms into a full-on mean girl. The film still delivers some great laughs, but nothing compares to the first half of the film (A situation common in comedy flicks).

I also would've liked a stronger musical score. Obviously with comedies, the musical score is kind of brushed off or overly cartoonish, but I would've liked something a bit more memorable. This is such a minor, nitpicky, absolutely stupid criticism of an otherwise perfect movie, and I feel bad for mentioning it.

But those two complaints notwithstanding, Mean Girls has proven itself as one of my favorite movies of all time. The comedy is unparalleled. 

Guys, writing reviews for really, really good movies (Especially comedies) is a lot harder than writing reviews of bad, okay, or other genres of good movies. Because with a comedy, it's not like you can praise the action, cinematography, emotional message, or dissect it to find out where it went wrong. For a comedy, you can tell whether you liked it based on how hard you laughed, and how often you laughed.

Overall rating: 10/10. "Combining wit, heart, perfect casting, memorable lines, and an unforgettable first watch, Mean Girls is extremely fetch."