Uglies Movie Review: The Movie Those Who Hate Their Imperfections Should Watch on Netflix
Cast: Joey King, Laverne Cox, Chase Stokes, Jillian Murray, Brianne Tju, Keith Powers, Kevin Miles, Kelly Gale, Charmin Lee, Lindsay Rootare
Director: McG
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars)
It’s incredible how Uglies, based on the first novel by Scott Westerfeld, is a sort of general copy-and-paste compared to the sci-fi themes that follow one another in productions centered on a dystopian universe with young adult nuances. And it’s also absurd to think that the original tetralogy was published two years before Hunger Games (anticipating some concepts). Strange but true, it hasn’t had the same buzz as the Katniss saga, despite the idea of a film adaptation that has been around since the books came out (we’re talking about the two years 2006 – 2007). Now, after a long gestation (even 20th Century Fox, in 2006, had put forward the idea of development, then abandoned it) here it is on Netflix. An operation, we must say right away, decidedly out of time.
In a world dominated by ideals of aesthetic perfection, Netflix tries to remind us that true beauty lies in our physical defects and in those imperfections that we do everything to hide. It does so with its new dystopian film Uglies available on the streaming platform’s catalog from September 13. It is a teen story, inspired by the first book in the saga of young adult science fiction novels by Scott Westerfeld and set in an imaginary future where anyone who turns sixteen is forced to undergo cosmetic surgery to become aesthetically perfect and, consequently, no longer marginalized.
Uglies Movie Review: The Story Plot
The film begins by telling the story of a world civilization that collapsed due to fossil fuels before scientists invented a new renewable energy from white flowers. However, the remaining humans still have problems with differences in appearance, which leads to class division as another problem. The parents therefore think of making everyone equal by transforming everyone at the age of 16 into beautiful people to eliminate that difference. This becomes the life goal of everyone in this world. However, there are still rumors that there are communities that differ in appearance and give freedom to everyone’s thoughts. Uglies is a film that addresses the issue of the standardization of beauty in contemporary times and does so by speaking to the very young, the first victims of a world where even the slightest physical imperfection can be experienced as the greatest psychological drama.
The story told by the film is that of Tally, a teenager who can’t wait to become as beautiful as the girls older than her. She has already chosen the shape of the face she wants, the color of her eyes, the color of her hair, and the body she wants to assume after the operation. But when she sees the side effects of the operation on her best friend, Tally will begin to understand that something, in this government system based on perfection, doesn’t work and she will understand that the values of life must be sought elsewhere. Although it is a dystopian story of a teen nature and, therefore, simple and intended for a very young audience, Uglies is a film that would be good for all those people who struggle to accept themselves, who feel ugly, different, and therefore inferior to those who flaunt beauty on social media, on TV or in the street. Uglies is a film that all insecure people, slaves to social media, always ready to point the finger at their imperfections should watch if only to remember that it is precisely what we consider a defect that makes us unique, special, different, and therefore memorable.
Uglies Movie Review and Analysis
It must be admitted that the idea of the sci-fi world structure in this story is quite good. It also blends well with the teenage love story genre, such as falling in love during an adventure with a country boy who impresses her, or a male friend who has transformed but she still believes that he is still here and can come back. However, the film does not go into these issues deeply or delve into the good relationship drama that the film has already built up but destroys them all in the second half by changing the style to focus on action, having a big villain and enemies chasing after them with warships. The story during this period is almost like President Snow in The Hunger Games, who ordered high-tech soldiers to chase people in the forest who had no way to fight back. Then this side easily invades and fights back to the high-tech capital. The last part of the story is almost a mess, abandoning all the good points from the beginning.
Even though there is a slight attempt to circle back, such as when the female lead’s handsome male friend seems to have changed his mind but is brushed off again. And it ends simply and unreasonably with the female lead’s actions towards the city’s ruler. Also, the issue of human transformation on Earth is left hanging without a clear answer on how to fix this belief. It’s like the scriptwriter didn’t think it through from the beginning. The production of the sci-fi scenes in the story is considered to be well done, perhaps because it is the director’s forte. The movie creates a dystopian world where people live only in beautiful cities, with various high-tech equipment to use, especially the skyboard that can glide if there is metal underneath. The movie sells the scenes of using this board throughout the story, making it seem like a futuristic vehicle for the protagonist, but the enemy uses all warships, and the movie makes the chase scenes quite exciting.
The actors in the story are actually quite good at playing their roles, especially the female lead’s friends, both male and female, who have quite a few prominent roles. The female lead, Joey King, is quite suitable because she’s not very beautiful. But the movie seems to put her weaknesses wrong, like saying that she has a complex about squinting eyes, which doesn’t feel like she has that complex at all. In the whole story, none of the main characters are ugly, to begin with, but I can understand that if they find actors who aren’t handsome or beautiful to play the roles, it probably won’t attract viewers anymore. Don’t expect a masterpiece from this film, after all, Uglies is a teen drama and while it wallows well in this kind of story it still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of direction and screenplay. Overall, however, it is an enjoyable title, not too demanding, and with a nice psychological undertone that is always nice to find on the big or small screen.
Although it sins of excessive simplicity, Uglies is a story that has something to say, that lets itself be watched and that pushes us to question our own inner values, and this is always a good thing. In addition, the ending of the story is so open that it leaves room for a continuation of which it would be very interesting to see the result. Let’s remember that the film adapts only the first of the books in the saga which are precisely Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras. Cute, light, intriguing just right, Uglies is the right film for those who don’t want to demand a viewing and love to imagine near futures where everything is possible, even suddenly becoming aesthetically perfect but soulless.
The themes, if you read carefully, would also be there to re-value the saga: the society devoted to appearance, the spasmodic search for approval, and the continuous reflection of a dangerous and utopian perfection to pursue and chase. Ideas and points that would make Uglies a sci-fi with strong contemporary traits. However, in McG’s film (which passes from one genre to another, but we remember him above all for the Charlie’s Angels franchise at the beginning of the Millennium, and for the excellent The Babysitter, which you can always find on Netflix), the right credibility seems to be missing, despite the presence of the talented Joey King and despite the impressive production effort, which often and willingly pushes on CGI and visual effects. Of course, it’s not enough. It’s not enough because Uglies, in the long run, even ends up losing the right rhythm, and planning – already – the idea of a possible saga.
Moreover, the digital arrival of the film (at the cinema it would probably have been a resounding flop), aims to retain users, persuading them with new stories to follow. Theoretically, and also given the peculiarity of sci-fi, constantly a privileged genre in streaming (much less on the big screen, at least in Italy), the idea could actually be a winner. Too bad for the disarming canonicity, combined with an indecisive direction that seems too indebted to similar franchises. In short, Uglies is nothing that can remain imprinted, or that is worthy of substance. In an era in which science fiction has definitively abandoned some atmospheres, exacerbates every post-apocalyptic dystopian future. What does it mean? That Uglies could have had its own logic twenty years ago. Now, it only appears as a very unsuccessful attempt to reevaluate a genre, moving it towards distracted streaming fruition.
Uglies Movie Review: The Last Words
A teen sci-fi movie that combines the idea of a collapsed world with the search for identity, creating a world with an advanced government that allows people to choose their own beauty to prevent people from being separated and causing chaos in society, or freedom to accept their own physical defects, but they have to live in the forest outside the city and make a living. The movie sets this point and tells the story well in the first half. There is a scene showing a fun CG floating board, but towards the end the movie starts to deviate and becomes a mediocre action movie, abandoning all the deep issues that were laid out, which is a shame. There has been talk of an adaptation of Uglies since 2006. Then nothing more was done. Now Netflix dusts off the saga adapting it into an anachronistic sci-fi in tone, direction, story, and effects. A canonical operation, at times disarming. The tone does not hold up, and despite the presence of Joey King, the rest of the cast struggles to be convincing. A bit of a shame, considering that Westerfeld’s novels were even precursors to Hunger Games.
Uglies Movie Review: The Movie Those Who Hate Their Imperfections Should Watch on Netflix - Filmyhype
Director: McG
Date Created: 2024-09-13 18:54
3
Pros
- A teen sci-fi movie where you can choose your favorite beauty.
- The world structure collapses with the governance system
- The CG scenes are well done.
- There is Thai dubbing.
Cons
- Lately, all the good dramas have been abandoned.
- It ended simply and illogically.
- The actors are already so beautiful and handsome that it feels a bit inconsistent with the theme of the story.
