Uglies

First of there isn't a single ugly person in the cast.

The concept of everyone prioritizing being pretty made no sense because how does it contribute to the development of society in the movie? Like you become pretty and that's all? How do these people even make a living do you just become pretty and party all the time?

Because that's what it looked like "Get pretty and just live your life". Overall the movie had some good CGI and the action scenes were okay.

The whole concept of the movie felt a bit like they were trying to give off some Hunger Games vibe and the idea of the rebellion being led by the smoke(David) felt kinda off because it would have made more sense if his parents were the leaders of the rebellion seeing as they were the first to actually leave the city.

It is centuries into the future. After many global catastrophes, the world has reached a new utopia where everybody gets remade into their perfect selves upon turning 16. 15 year old Tally Youngblood (Joey King) is eager to have her change and a smaller nose.

This is a dumb YA premise. The title is even dumber. I do wonder if there is a better way to do this. The glowy suits are a good start and I like the eyes. The premise should be making people more than pretty. They should be all similar and be bigger and glowier. My best guess is that this is written by some Beverly Hills kids who grew up obsessed with plastic surgery. This could be satire if McG knew what the word means. At least, Joey King is willing to make fun of her nose.

If one ignores the stupid premise, this becomes a run-of-the-mill YA dystopian franchise. It follows a lot of the standard elements. The hoverboard scenes look real bad with early 2000's CGI. I just can't get over the basic premise of plastic surgery saving the world. It says more about Hollywood than anything else.

This movie just became available and judging by some of the 'reviews' here many watched it (or didn't) just to leave a negative review.

While it cannot be considered a masterpiece it in fact is a fairly entertaining parody of modern society. The idea that people place an inappropriately high value on "how someone looks." When friends meet at an event or party a common greeting is "You look really good in that outfit." Or "I love your new hairstyle." I suspect being "pretty" or "handsome" helps people get jobs or elected for public office.

Some reviewers point out that the actors, including Joey King, aren't really ugly. That misses the point, in this society they are considered ugly because they are ordinary. When we see those who have turned 16 and undergone their transition, their beauty is about what you get when someone has a glamor makeup session. Or the usual makeup movie stars get for the role they are playing.

But that is only part of it, they also are brainwashed to believing that "Free thinking is a cancer" and conforming will make everyone happier. (Shades of 'Pleasantville.')

So Joey King plays 'Squint", she is about to turn 16, her mantra is "I want to be pretty." But there is a rogue world outside her city where rebels are living the old way, children with their parents, growing their own real food. And the movie ultimately gets the 'Rusties" as they are called pited against the establishment.

Movies like this are made to entertain and my wife and I were entertained, watching at home, streaming. As the movie went she said she thought maybe she had read the books some years past and later found out she did. They are considered 'Young Adult' books and that fits with the themes here.

As many have pointed out, there wasn't enough run time to build the narrative and characters. The only character they slightly done justice was Shay, Brianne done really well in portraying her.

Whoever designed the set/Architecture WELL DONE, literally almost exactly how I have imagined it in my head for the last 10 years, even down to the constant fireworks.

1. "The uglies are not ugly enough" Surprisingly I disagree. I just think they haven't portrayed the pretties as radical enough, it lacked the outrageousness and complexity of the actual appearance and personality change. The uglies are meant to look NORMAL, eg. Literal models in old magazines didn't compare to pretties in the book. Although I do agree that Joey King doesn't quite suit the book perception of Squint, I can however, see their thought process (I'm looking at you people who keep calling her ugly)

2. "We never learn about the rest of the planet", yeah the readers didn't learn about that for a while either, and neither does the characters. It's actually a main plot line in one of the future books so be patient.

3. "How are they hoverboarding on water" This is where the narratives quickness and budget ruined the technology and dystopian aspect, I was looking forward to this part the most, however it all lacked clarity with too much action.

4. I've seen quite a few comments and social media posts mentioning that Tally and Shay have better chemistry than any of the others, this is the same in the books and is a really important aspect as they develop their friendship and platonic love. I really enjoyed that they adapted this aspect of the characters, however ended up lacking in others.

All in all I am not surprised it is quite cheesy, it is a dystopian movie with a plot written in the mid 2000s, I definitely think with a longer run time or series they could've smashed it, it would make the special effects appear less overwhelming and the narrative denser and consistent, not leading to confusion about the plot or meaning behind the movie. With our social media today, I think the adaption of this movie is more important now than ever, they just lacked the cinema substance.

Joey King is 25 years old and in this film she is supposed to be 15. Other than paying the actors, it seems they spent $1000 on a green screen and another $50 for the production team. I guess it might be fine if you want to throw something on for your kids to rot their brain, but I'd definitely give this one a pass. I would not recommend this to any one who values their time. These kids are literally kick flipping hoverboards and the whole show is based on "feeling pretty" with a surgery performed when they turn 16. To say unreal expectations of the world, and yourself, would be a massive understatement.