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Cast: Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Sophia Anne Caruso, Sofia Wylie
Director: Paul Feig
Rating: 2/ 5
Language: English
Synopsis:
The School for Good and Evil is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Soman Chainani. A story of magic and fairytales, the film follows the story of best friends, Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) and Agatha (Sofia Wylie) who stick together as misfits in the village of Gavaldon. While Agatha receives hate and isolation from villagers who believe her to be a witch, Sophie dreams of living in a fantasy world far away from Gavaldon. After reading about a mythical school of Good and Evil, Sophie wishes for herself to get admitted into the magical school, hoping to live her own fairytale. As Sophie’s wish gets granted, a mysterious force transports not only her but also Agatha to the land of good and evil although while Sophie lands up in the school of evil, Agatha gets admitted in the school of good. Believing that both are misfits in their own schools, Sophie and Agatha try hard to get their worlds exchanged but little do they know that a bigger force is at play.
The story of the School for Good and Evil dates back to the days of Rafal (Kit Young) and his brother Rhian who have lived in harmony for years until evil decides to conquer over good and the two end up in a fight that results in the death of one. Nearly 200 years later, the School is being handled by professors with Lady Lesso (Charlize Theron) leading the evil whereas Professor Dovey (Kerry Washington) on the other end. While Good has been winning over Evil year after year, with Sophie and Agatha’s entry things are about to shake up at the school. Will Sophie embrace the evil side and will Agatha be able to protect her is what is left to see.
Plus Points:
If there’s one thing every fantasy drama needs, it’s good costume and production design. It’s a major challenge to make audiences imagine and crave for worlds that don’t exist and it’s a creative task that films year after year have failed to attain. In the case of The School for Good and Evil, there is definitely a massive amount of effort put on the production design side even if it feels heavily borrowed and inspired from films like Harry Potter. Another point where the film scores will also have to be the costumes, especially the whole Sophie wardrobe sequence which seems like Emma Roberts’ Wild Child got a fantasy remake. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t have too many points on the plus side to score.
Minus Points:
The School for Good and Evil feels like a film that is trying hard to cater to young adults and in doing so it tries to become too flashy and forcefully dipped in candy-coloured elements. The attention given to the development of the plot seems much lesser than the theatricality it tries to bring with every scene. Another problem with the film is also how it packs too much in one go and stretches far beyond the level of interest this story can generate. There is a hotchpotch of the wizarding world meets Bridgerton followed by Halloween adventure element and none of them come close to being enjoyable. To add to it, the inclusion of the voiceover as the Storian (Cate Blanchett) feels like an unnecessary addition. Michelle Yeoh who is also cast as one of the professors feels immensely underused and it would particularly agitate you to see her talent get wasted here considering she has already delivered the year’s best performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Opinion:
The School for Good an Evil gets tiring halfway through because it never truly engages you into the storyline from the get-go. The story takes multiple detours while trying to play mysterious about Sophie’s true nature. The sequences involving the students taking classes such as dark enchantments are particularly poorly written and get even more disappointing thanks to the wizarding world hangover they suffer from. Every school has a prom and hence here we have the Annual Evers Ball, thus ticking off the requirement of any teen movie. All through the film as Sophie continues to create chaos, Agatha comes to her rescue and all of it seems strangely repetitive and predictable to ever invoke interest. The humour is disappointing, the romance isn’t heart-fluttering and the friendship doesn’t get you emotional, these are the key areas where the film miserably fails to make a connection.
The School for Good and Evil makes absolutely no use of actors such as Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington whose talent is far beyond what is tapped into in the film. While the film’s plot has so much to explore considering it has callbacks to some great literary characters as we meet King Arthur’s son Tedros (Jamie Flatters) and Captain Hook’s son Hort (Earl Cave), the film explores nothing exciting about them or their legacy. .There is a clear attempt on Feig’s end to challenge the conventions of beauty, there is the whole witchy makeover sequence that does create confusion as it seemingly tries to connote evil and ugliness together. The film ends with a supposed twist about Tedros sending a message from his world to Agatha in Gavaldon suggesting that there’s more to the story and that a sequel may continue it ahead. Although after the 146 minutes you have spent watching this film, thinking about a sequel seems far-fetched.
Highlights:
- The production design on the film works wonders.
- Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie put on a decent act.
- Cate Blanchett’s voiceover skills need an appreciation
Conclusion:
All in all, The School for Good and Evil has little less to offer in terms of novelty in the fantasy genre. The overpopulated genre has already seen several literary works fail with their adaptations and for Paul Feig’s film, it seems it’s overindulgence on every front that holds it back from shining a story that could have proven to be interesting with its surprising twists when laid out in an adventurous manner.
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