‘Uglies’ Review: An Appealing Joey King Headlines McG’s Routine Dystopian YA Adaptation for Netflix
A brave young woman battles a repressive society in a dystopian future, while honing her archery skills in the process. No, it’s not The Hunger Games, but rather Netflix’s latest cinematic sci-fi YA effort, based on the 2005 bestselling novel by Scott Westerfield that spawned several sequels. Joey King stars in this screen adaptation helmed by McG, and while Uglies won’t erase anyone’s memories of the previously mentioned cinematic franchise, it proves a reasonably engrossing thriller that should please younger audiences.
The hard-working Joey King (the Kissing Booth series, The Act, We Were the Lucky Ones) plays the central role of Tally, who lives in a futuristic world that mandates cosmetic surgery at age 16 for all of its citizens (doesn’t seem that far-fetched an idea these days) who are known as the “Uglies” before they’re transformed into the “Pretties.” Not that Tally objects, as she informs us at the film’s beginning.
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“All my life I wanted to be pretty. I thought it would change everything,” she says. Approaching her 16th birthday, Tally excitedly compares possible future versions of her herself at an AI mirror. In the days leading up to her surgery, she spends her time practicing staying upright on a hoverboard (shades of Harry Potter) along with her best friend Shay (Brianne Tju).
Tally’s excitement about her upcoming transformation begins to wane when she encounters her friend Peris (Chase Stokes, Outer Banks) after he’s received the mandated treatment. He looks gorgeous, all right, but he seems to have changed; he’s no longer invested in their friendship or his old interests. And then Shay tries to persuade her to not have the surgery and informs her that she’s running away to join a rebel society known as the “Smoke.”
Not long after, the society’s leader, Dr. Cable (Laverne Cox, juicily leaning into the villainy), orders Tally to go on a secret undercover mission to join the Smoke and become an informant, or risk never becoming a Pretty. She reluctantly complies and soon makes her way to the Smoke, which resembles a utopian nature commune. There she reunites with Shay and meets hunky David (Keith Powers), who takes her under his wing and fuels the film’s chaste romantic subplot.
It isn’t long before Tally wakes up to the fact that she’s been living in a society that expresses free thought. She returns home and rallies her friends to join her in fighting back. “You want to be rebels?” she asks. “Today’s your day.”
It’s all about as familiar-feeling as it sounds, but it goes down easily thanks to McG’s skillful, fast-paced direction, the imaginatively lavish CGI-enhanced visuals, and King’s impressive performance. It’s hard not to think that the material’s beneath her even if she’s an avowed fan of the source material and serves as one of the film’s executive producers. But she’s such an appealing, likeable performer that you can’t help but be invested in her character’s waking up to the idea that she’s been living in a society in which people are not in control of their own bodies. It’s a theme that feels all too timely in the current political environment.
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