The quintessential movie antagonist is Regina George. Blonde, immaculate looking, a natural leader, filled with spite, manipulative and charming. Many people identify more with her than Katie, and especially Janet, especially in the original movie.
The second movie lacks a lot of the subtlety that I think the original movie had, particularly with the character of Janet. Whereas Janet was portrayed as a mean girl in her own right, in a socially awkward emo way, you could empathize with her because she was treated poorly.
The new movie completely erased this subtly, when it portrayed Janet in an almost entirely positive way. Now Janet is into self acceptance, has some vaguely positive queer identity. This creates a situation where it’s mean girl, and there’s less tension. The story is complete.
But, man, I can’t help but to feel that Regina is done dirty.
Regina has star power, a charisma that everyone else lacks and an entire team needed to assemble to take her down.
This can’t be understated. Regina is a vicious opponent, and without the bus taking her down, the odds are she’d have won, whatever that meant.
Isadore Johnson's Website 