In the future, we’re all pretty. Isn’t that nice? Oh, but you can’t be “enhanced” -and they’re not kidding here, the members of this dystopia go through quite a transformation- until you turn 16. Before you come of age, you’re one of the Uglies.
Well, isn’t this just the shallowest society ever? Not only do they cruelly label the young “imperfect,” they isolate and hide them away so the prettier members of society never have to look upon them. Wow, so much for the beauty of youth. “Y’all are Uglies, now GET LOST!”
Tally (Joey King) can’t wait to be beautiful. She’s gonna have golden eyes and long flowing blonde hair … and a pony and live in a castle. Her life doesn’t suck now exactly, but it’s very structured … and there’s no freedom. Her bff Peris (Chase Stokes) – who is also not ugly, btw- turns 16 three months ahead of Tally, which gives him three months lead time on becoming beautiful, vain, and shallow.
Peris swears these things aren’t going to happen, but it’s a movie, what do you expect? The two vow to meet a month after his transformation, and when Peris fails the date, Tally
has to break all the society rules to find him … only to discover, of course, that Peris ain’t Peris anymore. They didn’t just make him permanently pretty, they also extracted his soul in exchange for being yet another shallow fascist societal toady. Isn’t that always the case?
Is there a bigger message here? One about the shallowness of beauty standards and the autonomy you cede when you opt for personal quick fixes ahead of societal goals? Well, there would be in a better movie. Uglies simply chose this moment to point out this society was, indeed, dystopian… now let’s get you a new friend, Tally. How about Shay (Brianne Tju), who is -and I hate to keep saying this- also not ugly. To her credit, Shay has no interest in celebrating her diez y seis-iñera by becoming a plastic zombie — but, honestly, this is a much easier stance to take when you’re not ugly.
Billing itself as a cross between Hunger Games and Divergent, Uglies turned out to be more like a poor man’s Logan’s Run. I see your dystopia and I see your rebellion. What I don’t see is how this rebellion has even a slight chance of success. (How is it so hard to find the people not living in the techno future societies who set fire to the poppy fields?) What I also don’t see is why anybody wants to have transforming surgery at 16. Do you all just grow up with the worst self-esteem ever? That’s a fantastic way to raise a child. Yes, this society is doomed, but not in the way you think it is. Try getting anything but malice from a group of people who all had shitty childhoods. The biggest question, however, is “Why should I care?” Despite the societal commentary and war on the horizon, Uglies gets real dull around the 45-minute mark and never really recovers. I was left without much reason to keep watching let alone caring for what was on screen. I like Joey King, but her last few projects have taken much more the Shailene Woodley route rather than the Jennifer Lawrence route.
There once was a girl named Tally
Who longed to be pretty, finally
The operation’s curse:
A soul in reverse
And an insipid, most boring finale
Rated PG-13, 100 Minutes
Director: McG
Writer: Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, Whit Anderson
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Very shallow people, not quite getting that this society is being critiqued
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: So you went ahead with the shallow stuff anyway?!
