Review of “Uglies”: Life is not pretty in this dystopian drama

What it is about Even today, years after the Hunger Games series first hit the screen, there is still a huge appetite for dystopian young adult literature.

The 2005 novel “Uglies” is being adapted for Netflix. It is directed by McG (Drew Barrymore's “Charlie's Angels” and the sequel) and stars the always excellent Joey King, best known for his role as Gypsy Rose Blanchard in Hulu's “The Act.”

The story, which writer Scott Westerfeld turned into a four-part novel series, is about a future in which all 16-year-olds undergo plastic surgery aimed at giving them a conventional, beautiful appearance. This is intended to eliminate any kind of dissatisfaction from society. They go from being “ugly” to “pretty,” you see? This process is overseen by the villainous Dr. Cable (Laverne Cox).

King plays Tally Youngblood, a girl just before her 16th birthday who, at the doctor's behest, joins a group of rebels hiding in a remote patch of wilderness called “The Smoke.” The doctor blackmails her into betraying them. Naturally, things get pretty complicated.

MY OPINION This world is difficult to adapt to the screen because the whole construction requires the acceptance of a fundamental difference between the “ugly” and the “beautiful”.

The story obviously has value: it's a sophisticated metaphor for young people who lack the confidence to feel as attractive as they should, and who learn throughout their journey as “uglies” that there is no one right way to look, act or feel, no matter what societal conventions dictate.

However, if you take that out of the world of writing and the reader's imagination and make a movie out of it, you have a classic problem. The difference between “ugly” and “pretty” in the world of the movie “Uglies” means dressing in everyday sci-fi clothes with no makeup, or dressing up with heavy makeup, straight hair, and an expensive dress.

So you can't take it seriously, it doesn't translate well to the screen, and the larger purpose is lost. The audience is left with a boring journey through conventional science fiction territory, with almost every line serving to advance the explanation and no real reason to get emotionally invested in it.

Still, “Uglies” has some welcome qualities. McG knows her way around an action movie, King has the charisma to carry the film even as she struggles through jargon that passes for dialogue, and the casting of Cox as the villain is inspired, giving the film a larger-than-life feel it desperately needs.

But even if you're willing to ignore the rest and consider “Uglies” to be little more than run-of-the-mill entertainment, there's a persistent cheapness that gets in the way of the film. The best example of this is the special effects, which are so sloppy and repetitive that they look like they've been lifted straight from a decades-old video game. It's really ugly.

Conclusion Should have stayed on the side.