Title: Uglies
Actors: Joey King, Brianne Tju, Keith Powers
Director: McG
Writers: Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor and more
Genre: Dystopian, Sci-fi
Length: 1 hour and 40 minutes
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤
Watch this movie now on Netflix
Uglies
In this world, everyone is considered ugly until they get their extreme cosmetic surgery when they turn 16. After that you become pretty and you live in a beautiful world. Tally (Joey King) is still 15 and she can’t wait until she gets pretty. She already knows what color of eyes and hair she wants. One day she becomes friends with another Ugly named Shay. She has the same birthday as Tally and will get her surgery soon as well. But there is a rumor going around in the world of uglies. Apparently there is a guy named David who doesn’t agree with Pretties society. He is trying to convince people not to get the surgery, to join their group, and age naturally. Now, Shay is trying to convince Tally that getting the surgery is ridiculous.
Review
When I saw the trailer for this movie a few weeks ago, I got pretty excited. I couldn’t wait to watch this movie. I am not going to say that Joey King is my favorite actress, but somehow I always end up watching her movies. I’ve seen her in The Kissing Booth, which was definitely not the best trilogy ever. The movies she plays in are just okay.
But I was mostly excited about this movie because it is a book-to-movie adaption and it kind of reminded me of Divergent and maybe a little bit of The Hunger Games. In a sense, they are all the same. You have a female main character who suddenly realizes what is going and she becomes a rebel and is trying to change the world for the better. And yes, apparently I love those kinds of movies. This movie definitely gave me those Divergent vibes.
But I think this movie also has a deeper meaning. If you don’t get the surgery in this movie, you are considered ugly and when you change your face, you are suddenly pretty. These days young women (and men) are getting surgery at a very young age because they think it will make them prettier. They get lip fillers, botox, and more. You see in Hollywood nobody wants to age and get wrinkles. So I would say that this movie is not far off from the real world we live in.
I kind of have to admit that this movie didn’t impress me that much. I liked it, but I am not sure if I will remember it at the end of the year. But to be honest, I am not even sure if I will remember any of the movies I’ve seen so far. Most of the shots in this movie were very dark, except for the part where Tally entered the world of the Pretties.
I think it would have been better if they actually had cast a teenager for this movie. Joey King is 25 years old and she is supposed to be a 15-year-old. I also think that Shay (Brianne Tju) was my favorite character in this movie. To be honest, she was the true rebel who decided to go against society’s rules and not get the surgery. She had to convince Tally to come with her and join David’s group.
I read the reviews on IMDB and honestly, I did not think that this movie was that bad. Some people are saying that this is the worst movie ever. I mean, I still sort of enjoyed it and there was constantly something happening, so I did not get bored. The length of the movie was just right. After watching this movie, I want to read the books in this series. I think there are four books in total. I want to find out if the books are even better. Most of the time they are.
And in case, you did like this movie, then I will have good news. As I mentioned there are four books in this series and the movie ended with a plot twist. So I think there will be another movie next year or so. Although, I think it is kind of crazy to think about the fact that Joey King will be almost 30 if they release one movie every single year. A 25-year-old woman playing a 15/16-year-old girl is already crazy, so imagine a 30-year-old woman pretending to be a teenager. It will never be believable. That is why I think they should have cast new talent and someone younger.
Overall, I thought that this movie was okay. I sort of enjoyed it. It wasn’t the worst movie I’ve seen this year. And this movie made me want to read the books. So I think the outcome of watching this movie is pretty positive. But I wonder if Netflix will continue with these movies. Netflix is known for canceling everything, but I secretly hope that they will make the movies.