‘Uglies’ review: Joey King, how could you?

Netflix’s adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies is relatively similar to the book, and most of the characters are still present, which is a delightful surprise considering this industry’s inclination to cut, combine, and butcher character work. 

Director McG was an unfortunate but predictable choice for this adaptation—his previous work on Tall Girl and Shadowhunters tells us enough about how highly he thinks of YA fiction. However, it’s also disappointing that book lover Joey King opted to adapt the series and let the quality of the story’s societal critique disintegrate before her eyes.  

The original material is quite juvenile. Still, it’s an excellent dystopian for tweens. Uglies explores beauty standards, climate change, media literacy, and propaganda in a concise, palatable form for younger readers, but it never talks down to the younger generation. Netflix’s adaptation, however, assumes the audience cannot follow story progression without heavily overwritten exposition or blanket dialogue when the acting would have been more effective without words. 

The writing surprised me. Of the three credited screenwriters, Vanessa Taylor wrote The Shade of Water, Hope Springs, and Divergent, and Whit Anderson worked on Daredevil. How did it end up like this? Scott Westerfeld’s novel was optioned in 2006, but it wasn’t until Joey King picked up the rights in 2020 that the ball started rolling. In the meantime, according to the WGA, the Uglies’ script was passed around, which may explain the overly simplified plot structure and dialogue. 

Unsurprisingly, Netflix’s adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s novel is middle of the road. The result has produced a shallow rendition of what could have been with the world-building Westerfeld created in the original material and current schools of thought surrounding beauty standards and climate change. 

We learn what was meant to solve the climate and energy crisis actually drains the earth’s soil of nutrients and creates a wasteland to pull the population to the city. Still, the motivation behind this has barely been explored. The villainous Dr. Cable is 2-dimensional, although Laverne Cox pulls it off. She’s the perfect pretty villain in her performance; if only she had a motivation. 

The rebellious “Smoke” has no solid solution to change how society is run. Everything is linked to a literal cure for vanity, but there’s no contingency in case their plan is successful. During ensemble scenes with the Smoke, the dialogue felt empty—the basic themes are there like conformity kills individualism, but not much else.

Joey King portrays protagonist Tally and gives a mixed bag. Sometimes, she’s in it, and sometimes, I get Kissing Booth vibes and DisneyXD energy. Tally is given a bland and whiny arc, and while Joey King pulls off the shyness or daring confidence it takes to lead a dystopian flick, the character is no Katniss Everdeen. However, the supporting cast gave consistent performances that matched the tone and sincerity of the film.

Brianne Tju plays Shay, Tally’s rebellious friend. She’s a cool tomboy who has passion and drive. Keith Powers plays David, the leader of the Smoke and Tally’s rugged love interest. He’s a little too hot to be considered unconventional, but his performance is consistent and more involved than Joey King’s; it felt like the two actors were sometimes working in different scenes. 

Chase Stokes plays Peris, another love interest of Tally’s; he gives a consistent performance and is perfectly cast but poorly written. We barely learn anything about his personality before his appearance changes and his brain cells are removed. He never proved much competition to David. 

It will be interesting to see if Uglies gets a sequel because it can’t stand alone as a solo film. The ending is left much too open, with a new plan already in progress. I am curious to see if the CGI throws off the target audience because, at points, it reminded me of Spy Kids. I mean, iconic, but their special effects don’t stand up. 

I loved these books when I was younger; I was compelled by the underlying message about loving yourself, having confidence, and being sucked into this new world where pretty people are scientifically stupid. It was a great escape from my pubescent body. Though I found plenty of issues with Netflix’s Uglies movie, I still enjoyed watching it and escaping for a few hours. I would be in favor of completing the series, but I highly doubt we’ll end up with all four books adapted.