User Reviews

When films are released as straight-to-video, expectations are generally lowered. This becomes very difficult when the film is released as a sequel to a film that was already incredibly popular years ago. This is the case with "Mean Girls 2", the follow-up to 2004's "Mean Girls".

Yet again, the story focuses on a high school student moving to a new school. This time, the girl's name is Jo Mitchell (Meaghan Jette Martin), and she's a bit of a loner, so she tells us with her opening voice-over. She is welcomed to the school by Abby (Jennifer Stone), a girl who we can quickly acknowledge as the often bullied girl. She's one of those unpopular students, the ones that the 'cool' people wouldn't be caught dead with. Naturally, Jo befriends her.

She has good reason to though, Abby's father pays her. No really, he offers her $50 000 to be Abby's friend for the rest of the year. Although this isn't why Jo does this, she ends accepting the money. Jo wants to go to college after all, and her father's business isn't going as well as it used to. She needs to accept the money, otherwise she'll have to go to a college close to home, and that just wouldn't do.

Back at school, Abby's life, and by extension, Jo's own, is beginning to take a turn for the worst. "The Plastics" are back, reincarnated for the newer generation. They are led by Mandi (Maiara Walsh), a girl so incredibly evil that she marks the top of her "i" with a heart instead of the usual dot. That's not exactly fair, Mandi and her group is fairly mean, even going so far as to destroy the motor of the car her father was fixing up.

Jo swears revenge upon the new group of evil popular students, and that's what the rest of the film centers on. Over the course of "Mean Girls 2", many jokes from the original are re-hashed, usually far less effectively than before, and the plot takes almost the same path that it took in "Mean Girls". Things do happen differently, but the end result is just about exactly the same.

The thing is, we don't care at all about any of the characters involved. In "Mean Girls", we got significant depth into Cady, and we wanted to see her take the Plastics down. In this one, Jo acts just as, if not more, evil as they do, and when things turn around upon her, we can't feel sorry for her, as the film seems to want us to. Even near the beginning, when she is clearly fighting back against the Plastics, she is still deceiving her "friend" by taking the money from Abby's father.

If there was one main problem that "Mean Girls" had, it was that it felt like the events happening within it were just a bit too far-fetched to actually be happening. I'm sure some of it could and does happen in school, but sometimes it just seemed too unbelievable. In "Mean Girls" 2, almost all of the major plot events are like this. For example, do you really think people would paintball someone's car? How about gluing the seat of someone's moped so that they become stuck to it?

What's worse, the Plastics in this film have even less reason to make Abby and Jo's lives miserable. For Abby, they don't like her before the film begins, and it's just because Abby is richer than Mandi. For ruining Jo's life, it seems to be based purely on jealousy, even if Mandi stays popular even after Jo appears at the school. The so-called jealousy doesn't even have much backing behind it, let alone letting it drive an entire character throughout the story.

Okay, so it has got a weak plot with weak characters, at least it has a humorous script, right? Nope. It doesn't, sorry. It has a couple of moments that will give you a chuckle, but for the most part, no, it just isn't that funny. The funniest parts, for me at least, were when the lower budget really came through in the filmmaking.

Definitely showing the lower budget were the actors hired. The main cast, Jo, Abby and Mandi, are all former Disney stars. This doesn't bode well for them to begin with, and we begin to notice in a feature-length film that they aren't the greatest actors in the world. They're not terrible, no, but they have about as emotional a performance as a brick wall. Yes, if allow paint to drip down it, you can make it look like it's crying, and that's about how the actors in the film felt like.

For all the complaining about the film I've done, I can't say that the film was a complete waste. For some reason, I didn't absolutely hate it. It stayed somewhat entertaining throughout, maybe for the "so bad it's good" factor, I'm not really sure. Maybe I kept hoping that it would improve, even if it did keep getting worse as the film progressed. There were some humorous parts, and the story does at least have enough twists in it that if you haven't seen "Mean Girls", you'll be surprised by them.

Basically, there isn't any reason to see "Mean Girls 2", because "Mean Girls" still exists. The characters have little depth and almost no motivation, the story isn't surprising if you've seen the original, and most of the jokes are replays of the ones seen in the first film. The acting isn't all that good, and while it was nice to see some Disney stars taking on more mature and realistic roles, the film didn't feel at all believable, as the entire drama of high school felt way too over- the-top. There isn't much reason for this film to exist, except cash-in on the "Mean Girls" name. Don't let it draw you in.

Mean Girls 2 is a mixed bag. There were some good ideas but they were rarely presented in an effective way. Let me break it down for you...

THE ACTING...

1- Jennifer Stone... I'm not into "Wizards of Waverly Place" so I was pleasantly surprised by how likable she was. And her comic timing was as good as a seasoned pro. Frankly, they should have cast her in the lead. She could have carried the movie and kept the audience more engaged.

2- Meaghan Martin, as the lead protagonist, was a disappointment for me. Her facial expressions and line delivery often made her sound snotty, even in scenes where she was supposed to be friendly! Sometimes she accidentally came off as looking or sounding stuck-up. I think they should have cast her as one of the mean girls. She did not have me rooting for her as much as I should have. That's a BIG negative in a movie like this.

3- Maiara Walsh played the head of the "plastics" and thus is the top mean girl. (If you're over 21, take a shot of whiskey every time she wears a strapless dress in this movie. You'll be sloppy drunk before the halfway point.) She definitely played the part of a spoiled brat very well. Though something about the shape of her face and eyes made her appear softer than the part required. Maybe she and Meaghan Martin should have switched roles?

The rest of the acting was good, in that "cute" sort of way. Nothing to stand up and cheer about but nothing to hurt the movie either.

THE REVENGE FACTOR...

Many pranks are played on the snobs. One of them gets vomited on. Another gets her face dyed green. Etc. But somehow the scenes don't work very well. Maybe because the characters don't seem properly humiliated by the pranks. I mean, your face is dyed green and you're reacting like it's only a minor inconvenience? She's more concerned about getting a ride to school than with what the other students are going to say about her green face! Thus the prank falls flat. Yet we're told it was a success.

And the girl who gets vomited on (I won't say who gets it) reacts the way you'd expect... she's grossed out! But there's not a lot of laughter or even any comments from the crowd that witnesses it. People should at least be going, "Ewww" and pointing. If you're going to pay a bunch of teenagers to be extras in a movie, make them earn it! Tell them to REACT. Getting vomited on at a crowded party should have some lasting social ramifications. In this movie, however, one gets the feeling that everyone will forget about it after a few seconds.

The final comeuppance (which I won't give away) works to a certain degree. At least justice is served. Unfortunately it seems to come too easy and feels clichéd. I recalled similar endings in other movies ("Cruel Intentions," to name just one.)

THE HUMOR...

Most of the comedy in Mean Girls 2 is "cute humor"... It's never hilarious. Rarely will you laugh out loud. Mostly you will just smile. I think some of the comedy was probably funny on paper but something always spoils it. Sometimes it's poor timing. Sometimes it's an over emphasis on cuteness. Often it's because the tone is simply too over-the-top to feel like any of this is happening to real people. To be fair, the original movie had the same problem.

I just don't buy into the notion that 3 girls could have an entire student body shaking in their boots. Simply portraying the mean girls as bullying snobs would be fine. That would work. Why do movies like this always feel the need to go over-the-top and make the mean girls out to be more feared than the Nazi Party in 1938 Germany? It doesn't increase the comedy. It just feels corny.

CONCLUSION: This movie will have many haters. The title "Mean Girls 2" will generate enough curiosity that many people will watch it. But those who loved the original will probably hate this sequel automatically. And those who don't care about the original won't care about this one either.

Having said all that, it's really not a bad movie. There are some good ideas... They're just presented in a very mediocre way. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. I'm just, "eh" about the whole thing. And I suspect the director was too. She did a great job with the film, "She Gets What She Wants" but seemed to lack that same spark here.

I wanted to have fun but found myself constantly saying, "Oh if only they had done it THIS way or THAT way, it would be way better."

Mean Girls 2 would have been so much better if it wasn't up against Mean Girls. I mean if it was called something else, it might have maybe been an okay movie. But when you stack it against Mean Girls, and have the expectations so high of course it's not going to be good. It had nothing to do with the original Mean Girls, I was so mad that they would use the Mean Girls title. And especially because half the actors in the movie were from freaking Disney Channel? Like really? I hated it. I honestly wouldn't even watch it again. I can't believe the creators of Mean Girls would let this happen. I'm so utterly disappointed. I mean they didn't even keep the same track as the original. At the end of the original, they were all friends - which showed that no matter what people go through they can still be friends. In the new one, the character portrayed as Regina George goes to JAIL - WHAT EVEN!? It was so unrealistic, I wanted to just walk away. Mean Girls is one of those movies that you just DON'T re-do. Lindsey Lohan and Rachel McAdams MADE Mean Girls what it was. And to make the "2" full of Disney Channel characters, made it so much worse. The acting was so tacky, and it wasn't even funny! The original was HILARIOUS. People still make jokes with the quotes, and MG2 had ZERO quotes. It was just so poorly made. And I love how the person who played Abby was a millionaire, yet she wore T-shirts? The movie was so horrible, don't even watch it.

First off, I have to say that I love the original Mean Girls, it is one of my favorite teen movies. However I found that this sequel was not even close to as good as the original. It was awful, and not just in comparison to the original. These are the problems I have with this movie.

Meaghen's performance was really bad. Everything that came out of her mouth sounded way too forced, like she was over-acting. Her voice got really annoying after a while too. As for the girl who played Mandi, she was sort of the opposite. I felt like she was way too subtle. Jennifer Stone did okay and I thought she probably did the best.

Another problem with this movie is the characters. What bothers me is that Jo is so frigging perfect. In the original Mean Girls, Caddie starts out nice but power takes over and she becomes something she never intended. In this, Jo is just misunderstood. This bothers me because it made me not understand the theme. Was it to just not be a mean girl? As for Tyler, he was just a big, annoying Gary Stew. I didn't like Abby because she lacked any wit or charm. She was just really bland.

However, I think my biggest bone to pick with this movie is that everything is just so FORCED. I feel like they FORCED it to try to connect with a more "counter culture" audience. It felt FORCED every time they swore or talked about sex. Meaghen Martin's performance feels FORCED. I felt like every joke was also FORCED.

In the end, this movie truly sucked. They tried really hard to make a sequel with a more "Janis Ian" like main character, and ultimately failed. This movie seemed like it was written by a bunch of old people who wanted to make money off of a movie that related to teens. This movie is a joke. If you loved the first Mean Girls, you will hate this one. I really hope they don't make anymore sequels of my favorite movies,

I must say, I absolutely loved the original Mean Girls. That's my girlfriends' and my go-to movie when we have Chick Flick Nights and gossip about girls. Needless to say, we were not excited when we heard that there was going to be a second one – sequels are never as good, and this sequel doesn't have the awesomeness that is Tina Fey. We pegged this as a failure before there was even a cast.

We were right. I watched the premiere on ABC Family on January 23, and this movie was so predictable I could've screamed. The movies reminded me a bit of Camp Rock and High School Musical – the writing and themes were aimed at twelve-year-olds – but there was a bit of a twist: they knew the Mean Girls crowd was a bunch of high schoolers, so they tried to aim the script at the original fans and older girls by adding words like "ass" and having the entire school make fun of the protagonist for being a virgin. Unfortunately, the virgin thing carries through the whole movie, which is just annoying, and the believability in this movie is pretty low. The original Mean Girls, while excessive, was at least believable, but the Plastics in this one literally crippled people with fear as they walked by.

Now, maybe I'm being unfair by comparing Mean Girls 2 to Mean Girls, but it's almost a requirement to compare a sequel to its original. Even on a more objective note, though, this movie was terrible. It was filled with cliché after cliché, and I predicted the outcome within fifteen minutes of the movie. I could tell what was going to happen every step of the way, and that was annoying. ((SPOILER ALERT!! Please skip to the next paragraph if you do not wish to have a small part spoiled for you.)) For example: the protagonist, Jo, is paid by a very wealthy man to be a bodyguard/friend to his daughter, Abby – enough for her to get into her dream school, Carnegie Mellon University. Jo and Abby eventually become best friends, and Jo debates for a long time whether she should tell Abby why they even became friends in the first place, eventually chickening out and not telling her about the deal. Can you guess what happens next, because I certainly could. When Abby's father pays Jo, she turns it down, but the head of the Plastics – Mandi – overhears the whole thing and tells Abby, instantly destroying the "best" friendship between Jo and Abby. Shocker, really.

That's only one of many predictable, clichéd moments throughout the movie, a movie – I must add – that runs far, far too long, especially when it's stretched over two hours on TV. I was completely bored by the end, and the only reason I would ever watch it again would be to make fun of it with my girlfriends, and even then we could probably just watch Twilight or something.

I do not recommend this movie. The language isn't really suitable for anyone below seventh grade, and anyone above seventh grade is probably too old for it. I only give this movie three out of ten stars, and most of those are only because the acting was semi-decent, and the movie carries the same title as one of the greatest chick flicks of all time. Don't waste your time on this movie – just read the summary on Wikipedia if you're at all curious; I'm sure it's much more interesting there, anyway.

Being a straight to TV 'sequel' I did not have high hopes, but carrying the name Mean Girls 2 after the original Hit film, I decided to give it a try...

First off How do you do a squeal to the original hit mean girls? Well the movies answer to this tough question is: Just repeat the exact same plot and hope no one will notice... However within 5 minutes of watching you realize it is a copy/paste job, and start to pick the holes apart, and believe me this movie is fantastic for hole picking.

Now For the actors: Meaghan Martin, as the lead often seemed excruciatingly wooden, and many scenes painful to watch, especially in the workshop romance scenes. Jennifer Stone as Abby played her role pretty well, subtle, not over the top and connectible. Abby's character is stark contract to her rich background but acceptable never the less.

****SPOILERS>>>> The mean girls, Whilst being plastic, which come on is not a hard act, seems completely lackluster compared to the vindictive nature of the treo portrayed in the first film. Their 'pranks' are over the top, unbelievable and just results in loud groans from the viewers, the final straw incident is just lacking any real motivation on why they would wreck jo's fathers career, no build up no nothing, just cut to the scene and cut away again if nothing happened.

The whole payback aspect of the film is unrewarding (which ultimately is what this film is about), the 'ultimate payback' for destorying her fathers career and $1000's of damages somehow equates to Holding a spite party at the same time as the plastics. Come on... when stakes are raised to that level you have every opportunity to do a something actually creative, clever, and well thought out. (which is why mean girls 1 was such a hit)

It then rushes into the plastic spawning of jo after 2 pranks (yes they even copied that from the original film). Then Jo gets framed for something she hadn't done (Hmm sound familiar to the original mean girls? Yes thats copied as well) and has to win support of her friends again to save the end of year ball (OH COME ON) SPOILER END<<<<<

The whole film is ultimately unrewarding and completely pointless in light of mean girls 1, Had this film been named anything else then it could of avoided direct comparison, and maybe viewers wont feel so deceived by being fed the same story again. If anyone is in any doubt this film isn't just a cash cow, look at the first sentence of the trailer "Remember mean girls 1?" i.e remember how awesome that movie is, now go spend money on this. Most amusing thing of all is the only time I laughed in the trailer is when they showed the clip of mean girls one.

1/10 Avoid, don't waste your time or money on this desperate corporate attempt to cash in.