Uglies

Movie Name: Uglies
Year of Release: 2024
Director: McG
Starring: Joey King, Brianne Tju, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Laverne Cox, Charmin Lee, Jay DeVon Johnson, Jan Luis Castellanos, Sarah Vattano, Ashton Essex Bright, Zamani Wilder, Joseph Echavarria
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 0
Watch it on Netflix

Synopsis and Review

Director/producer McG continues his prolific association with Netflix, releasing "Uglies" soon after his prior assignment, "Family Switch", which featured Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms. The film is based on the novel "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld, which in turn seems like a ripoff from one of Rod Serling's episodes from "The Twilight Zone". The film focuses its attention on the character of Tally, a young girl living in a dire world, where natural resources are almost entirely exhausted. She lives in a society where everyone gets an enhancement surgery at the age of 16, in order to make everyone "pretty". Prior to the surgery, everyone is deemed an "Ugly", including Tally and her best friend Peris. When he leaves for his surgery, he makes a deal with Tally to meet in one of their special spots. However, he does not show up and when Tally finally locates him, she is shocked to realize that non only has his physical appearance changed, but so has his personality. She then befriends another girl by the name of Shay, who informs Tally of a place of freedom and where everyone has a close bond with nature, a place going by the name of "The Smoke". Shay eventually leaves to go to "The Smoke" and to follow the words of its leader, David. Tally decides to stay behind, and go ahead with her surgery, but on the day of the procedure, she gets denied since Dr. Cable, the leader of operations, wants Tally to figure out where Shay is, uncover David's location, and find out about a secret "weapon" he's been developing. Tally eventually does locate "The Smoke", following Shay's leads, and what she finds surprises her in more ways than one.

"Uglies" source material leverages some concepts from Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone", but unlike the smartness of that show, "Uglies" opts to go in the direction of a generic young adult novel, populating this narrative with nonsensical plot points, and a type of message that is as subtle as a Chris Farley comedy from the 1990s. Whereas some of McG's prior features had a B-movie appeal to them, including the marriage of horror and comedy that existed in his "The Babysitter" series, this film on the contrary takes itself and its message very seriously, which is all the more shocking, when the script itself doesn't have either the depth nor the intellectual prowess that it believes to possess. The film looks and feels like a cheaper version of what Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence did with "The Hunger Games", and even what Neil Burger and Robert Schwentke created with "The Divergent" series. The film is so close to what these other properties have set in motion, that I actually thought this film was a spoof, as opposed to its own identity. The director has a difficult task in bringing something unique to this property, and sadly fails at doing so across the board. There's a lack of authenticity and dimension in nearly everything in this film, from its threadbare characters, to the production design, costume design (and why is it that even in all dystopian futures, those who live beyond the fringes of society always have perfectly coiffed hair, and impeccable tailoring in their costumes), and also visual effects (who look a bit cheap in certain parts of the film). The cast assembled for this adventure is equally mediocre, with Joey King failing to bring anything substantial to the lead, whereas Laverne Cox tries (and resoundingly fails) to be a copycat to Kate Winslet's character in "The Divergent" series. It's puzzling how this film saw the light of day, since it doesn't even work as a sub-par TV pilot for a possible upcoming show. Avoid.