TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 of 2024 (No. 1987) by Leroy Douresseaux
Uglies (2024)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for some violence and action, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR: McG
WRITERS: Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Whit Anderson (based on the novel by Scott Westerfeld)
PRODUCERS: John David, Jordan Davis, McG, Robyn Meisinger, Dan Spilo, and Mary Viola
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Xiaolong Liu
EDITORS: Martin Bernfeld and Brad Besser
COMPOSER: Edward Shearmur
SCI-FI/DRAMA/ACTION
Starring: Joey King, Brianne Tju, Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Laverne Cox, Charmin Lee, Jay DeVon Johnson, Jan Luis Castellanos, Zamani Wilder, Joseph Echavarria, Gabriella Garcia, Ash Maeda, Jordan Sherley, Sarah Vattano, and Ashton Essex Bright
SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:
Uglies is an entertaining and good, but not great science fiction film, but unlike The Hunger Games films, Uglies leans more towards teen viewers than it does towards a general adult audience
The film has high production values, which really show in the scenes that take place in “The City”
Although it leans towards younger viewers, Uglies makes points about conformity and individuality as fiercely as grown-up science fiction films
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Uglies is a 2024 American science fiction-drama film from director McG. The film is based on the 2005 novel, Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld. Uglies is a Netflix Original and debuted on the Netflix streaming service September 13, 2024. Uglies the movie is set in a futuristic society in which everyone is considered “ugly” until the receive the compulsory operation that makes them “pretty,” and it focuses on a teen girl who begins to have doubts about the surgery.
Uglies opens in a world that once saw civilization fall apart. In the future, humanity exhausts the planet of all its natural resources. The result is chaos, war, and destruction. Eventually, science creates a new energy source and also develops a surgery that makes everyone “pretty.” This new society believes that if everyone is perfect and thinks alike, then, there won't be any conflict. Everyone gets the surgery which transforms them into one of the “Pretties” at the age of 16.
When the story begins, Tally Youngblood (Joey King) is three months away from her 16th birthday and her surgery. She lives in a dorm with all the other kids who have not had the surgery and who are known as “Uglies.” However, her friend, Peris (Chase Stokes), is about to have the surgery that will make him pretty. Tally and Peris promise to keep in touch after he moves to “the City” where all the “Pretties” live, but things don't work out as they planned.
Tally befriends fellow “ugly,” Shay (Brianne Tju), and Shay has a secret. There is a place outside the City called “The Smoke.” It is a land of freedom and nature, and the people there have not had the surgery. The community is lead by the mysterious David (Keith Powers). Tally is intrigued, but she is caught in the middle. One part of her wants to be independent and different, but another part of her wants to have the surgery, become pretty, and look like everyone else. The decision Tally makes will change the lives of people both in the City and in the Smoke.
I have not read the novel, Uglies, or its sequels. However, I became familiar with the series through a pair of paperback original graphic novels based on the books, Uglies: Shay's Story and Uglies: Cutters, both released in 2012.
I don't see Uglies the movie as being similar to other films based on young adult (YA) dystopian science fiction novels, such as The Hunger Games (2012) and Divergent (2014). Uglies has me thinking about another dystopian science fiction film adapted from a novel. That would be the 1976 film, Logan's Run, based on the 1967 novel, Logan's Run, which was written by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. I recently watch Logan's Run on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network, and I thought of it as I watched Uglies. Both stories deal with characters forced to decide whether it is better to live in a safe, clean, and conformist, though macabre dystopian society or in the great wide and wild open.
Beyond similarities to the aforementioned films, Uglies deals with themes of change, both emotional and physical. Yes, Uglies can seem superficial at times. The film's special visual effects turn the City into a shining and gleaming Oz of non-stop parties under a sky lit up pyrotechnic fireworks. Behind the prettiness, however, is Joey King as Tally doing her best to convey the internal struggles inside the girl. King delivers a strong performance that sells the world of Uglies the film because it would crumble without a strong dramatic lead, which King is here. King makes Tally's conflicts seem genuine, and I often found myself confused by her motivations and actions because they felt like the result of an internal struggle. As slight as the film feels, King makes Tally feel like a real young woman struggling with a decision that will change her in ways she may not like, but a change she believes she has to accept.
The Uglies novel is the first in a series, so Uglies the movie could have a sequel. While it is good, but not great, Uglies is still a dystopian sci-fi film that the family can enjoy together.
6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars
Sunday, September 22, 2024
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