dir. McG
In a dystopian future, people are forced to undergo cosmetic surgery to transform them from “Uglies” to “Pretties”. The criteria for “Ugly” and “Pretty” is a bit odd, seeing as the Uglies are all portrayed by classically beautiful actors, while the Pretties are just given make-up and CGI to bestow them with eerie golden eyes and washed-out skin akin to the vampires from Twilight. People are sent for the prettifying procedure when they’re sixteen, and live in a grey, cruelly restrictive, prison-like institution until then. Except actually it’s very easy to escape said institution, ride around on magnetic hoverboards and pretty much do whatever. The Pretty city is able to scan everyone’s faces and track their movements but somehow never actually identify escapees or catch them. From start to finish, Uglies is so stuffed with contradictions and inconsistent worldbuilding that it’s hard to keep up with it. Then again, for all its attempts at complexity, the story is simple: bad guys try to control good guys, good guys fight back. Perhaps the book it’s adapted from has more going for it, but as a film, this story about inner beauty has absolutely nothing going on beneath the surface.
BMDb 