Mean Girls (2024) - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

If there’s one truth in Hollywood - when you have a great movie that everyone loved but it's getting on in years, remake it for a new generation! Time and again, studios rarely leave a classic alone for too long before they find a way to revisit it either on television, for sequels, or even the dreaded remake! To that end, it was inevitable that 2004’s hit Mean Girls would run through this cycle. What’s the difference between Mean Girls and Mean Girls 2024? Simple, music. Swap the cast for a sea of younger up-and-coming performers with musical talent and you have yourself the same story in a sparkly new pink package. But is it fetch-worthy? That depends who you ask.

Since this film hardly deviates from the original, I’ll just dispense with the plot update. Our new Cady is now played by Angourie Rice. She plays naive fittingly and works well with the material. The new band of plastics is Bebe Wood as Gretchen, Avantika as the socially dim Karen, with Renee Rapp stepping up to the plate as the diabolical Regina George. Tina Fey returns as Ms. Norbury alongside Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall. The only real new casting change for the teachers is Jon Hamm steps in as Coach Carr. 

Now when I say this is just Mean Girls with music, I try to say that without any cynicism. Not being a fan of musicals, I was curious to see how this modernized update would roll out. It went about as expected. It’s not bad or terrible, but it’s not amazing either. Perhaps too familiar, the film might get stuck trying to be a one-part tribute to the original without trying to be its own thing. Rather than seeing the same plot beats with on-the-nose musical interludes, I’d have been more impressed if they tried to shake it up a bit. 

But while I was watching Mean Girls 2024 I keyed into a realization - I am not at all who this film was made for. And I don’t say that as a cis white straight male who loves comic books, disc-based media, and high-end action figures. I mean generationally. I am not the target age demographic by about 26 years. I mean that not just with the cast, but the approach to the film. I’m not on TikTok (full disclosure I actually had to look up how to spell the app correctly) and I feel like that needs to be a prerequisite for this film. I had no idea most of the cast were accomplished musicians or recording artists and several albums deep into their careers. Their work just never entered my orbit and that’s largely because I am, well… old. I’m old now. This movie confirmed it. 

But that’s okay! As I said, this Mean Girls isn’t for me. Even then I don’t think 2004’s Mean Girls was for me either but you get my point. I’ll say that directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. found a way to update old material and make it fit for the yutes of today. It’s bright, shiny, moves fast, and even I’ll admit some of the songs are damn catchy. There are a few earworms in there.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Mean Girls 2024 jumps into the 4K scene after a somewhat lucrative theatrical run with a single-disc 4K UHD + Digital release. The film is pressed on a BD-66 disc and housed in a standard black case with identical slipcover artwork. The disc loads to a static image main menu with traditional navigation options.

Considering it’s more recent, shot digitally, and finished with a 4K Digital Intermediate, the transfer for this Mean Girls absolutely shines. From the jump, clarity is superb with fine clean lines and textures. Facial features, fashions, and the range of makeup on various faces are on full display. Being musically driven the production design and staging lends itself for the extra visual flair. The Dolby Vision grading is also a nice accent to the film’s colors, whites, and black levels. Like the original film pinks are a highlight but primaries score plenty of attention without oversaturation. Skin shades are healthy and human without appearing peached out or overly hot. Certain red holiday-themed outfits definitely pop. Black levels are deep and inky giving the image plenty of appreciable depth and dimension. All around an excellent video transfer. 5/5

Like the transfer, this newer Mean Girls gets the more interesting and active audio mix thanks to a full-on Atmos track. Given the numerous full-staged musical interludes, front/center, side, rear, and height channels get a lot of attention. I was particularly impressed with some clever uses for the height channels. And since it’s a modern musical, there’s very little downtime between song and dance numbers. When things are quieter and “normal” dialog is clean and clear without issue. The more interesting and active the scene, the more immersive the mix becomes. By the time we get to the film’s big finally it’s a wall-to-wall experience. I’m not a musical fan nor was this movie my kind of show, but fans of the flick will want to crank things up and kick back for this one. 4.5/5

As for Mean Girls 2024, there’s a nice selection of extras assembled for fans to dig into after the show’s over. Most of the featurettes are simple basic puff pieces but they do offer up some looks at how the creators and cast worked to not simply repeat everything the first film did already. There’s a sing-along mode that lets you participate while watching the movie or just skip right to the songs. I didn’t partake of that because, yeah, I'm not a singer, and I respect my neighbors. 

• A New Age of Mean Girl (HD 5:47)
• Song and Dance (HD 11:38)
• The New Plastics (HD 8:13)
• Extended Scene (HD 1:18)
• Gag Reel (HD 3:46)
• Not My Fault - Music Video Renee Rapp/Megan Thee Stallion (HD 2:53)
• Mean Girls Sing-Along with Selection Songs

Teen movies are like horror flicks, eventually, someone is going to remake them. Hopefully, there’s enough new to make the journey worth the revisit. For this generation of social media-infused fans, Mean Girls 2024 is their flick. Fully aware I’ve aged out of the genre and too old to know who half the performers are, this just wasn’t for me. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. This is Mean Girls for a new generation. If you don’t like this one, you still have the 2004 film still. On 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray this film scores an excellent Dolby Vision transfer with a very active Atmos audio track. The bonus features might be a lot of puff, but they’re worth the time if you loved the flick. Even if it wasn’t for me, if you’re a fan it’s a solid disc and is therefore a Recommended one. 

Order Your Copy of Mean Girls 2024 on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray