I see the vision. I don’t like the execution.
Those were my first thoughts after finishing the Netflix original movie “Uglies.”
Listen, the movie started making so much more sense once I found out that it’s based on a 2005 YA Dystopian novel of the same name by Scott Westerfield. Because that was the feeling I was getting while watching it as if it was a piss poor attempt at the good old tried-out dystopian genre.
The reason I say I could see the vision, is because the premise isn’t terrible. I’ll even go on a limb and say that if this movie were released alongside the genre classics, like “Divergent” or “Maze Runner,” it would’ve been enjoyable.
Alas, it was released almost two weeks ago, and that was way too late for this movie.
“Uglies” stars Joey King as Tally, a 16-year-old girl in a world where everyone undergoes a surgery at that age, that turns them into Pretties, or the most perfect, skinny, symmetrical versions of themselves.
It’s a commentary on society’s pressures on young teenagers and how one loses their individual differences under said pressures, but it would land a lot harder if the whole transformation didn’t look like the TikTok “bold glam” filter.
And not a very good one at that. Peris (Chase Stokes) —Tally’s childhood friend who undergoes surgery before her and essentially gets turned into essentially a supersoldier — is like the Wish version of Ken and there was something extremely unsettling about him.
The movie storyline follows Tally, and her journey of wanting to be a Pretty above everything else to realizing the brainwashing she and all the other kids undergo and turning on Dr. Cable (Laverne Cox) by joining the rebellion. Your average dystopian plot.
Except it felt incredibly rushed.
For comparison, “Divergent” ‘s first movie’s runtime was 2 hours and 19 minutes. “Hunger Games” was 2 hours and 22 minutes long. “Uglies” is only an hour and 40 minutes.
That’s not nearly enough time to explain the movie’s world and develop an interesting plot. If the ending is any indicator, there will be a sequel in the works, but I just don’t care enough to watch it.
For comparison, “Divergent” ‘s first movie’s runtime was 2 hours and 19 minutes. “Hunger Games” was 2 hours and 22 minutes long. “Uglies” is only an hour and 40 minutes.
That’s not nearly enough time to explain the movie’s world and develop an interesting plot. If the ending is any indicator, there will be a sequel in the works, but I just don’t care enough to watch it.
There is no lasting emotional attachment I have to any of the characters after watching it, or their world in general. We get told that it’s a post-apocalyptic world, and that the flower that they created as the best renewable source — yes you read that right, a flower — is actually toxic and they need to destroy it, but the movie never explains what their goals with the flower are.
It explains why the surgeries turn the “Uglies” to “Pretties” are bad, but these two major plot points never seem to blend together — if the flower was never mentioned I don’t think the plot would’ve changed at all.
Back to the characters though, the only one I cared about for long enough to feel sorry for her ending was Shay (Brianne Tju) and that’s saying a lot, considering I didn’t really care about this side character either.
I don’t know whether to credit the short run-time that didn’t give enough space for any development or the acting, but all of the other characters were bland.
Cox’s Dr. Cable lacked that something that made the original dystopian villains. She had the arrogance and the posture, though, I’ll give her that.
And while I don’t necessarily think King is a bad actress, her talents don’t lie in teenage roles, especially not the ‘hero’ roles.
One, she had no chemistry with Stokes, even though Peris clearly had feelings for Tally, which rendered the final scene between them absolutely unimpactful. Two, she didn’t have any chemistry with Keith Powers who plays David, the rebellion’s young leader, but I credit this to the writers showing us three scenes between the characters, making them kiss and calling it a day. Really, like writers, what?
The most frustrating part about this is that this could’ve been a good movie. I’ve never read the book, but the premise isn’t terrible. If they built up the world more, made a few different casting choices and extended the time, this could’ve been enjoyable to watch.
But it wasn’t. I used to live on dystopian books and movies, and this felt like an insult to the classics. And probably an insult to the original book, but who knows.
Do I wish this genre would come back? Absolutely.
Was this movie a good start? Absolutely not.
