Friday, 21 October 2022

VOD: The School For Good And Evil (dir: Paul Feig, 2022)

"Probably best to keep good and evil apart.  Less messy."

This YA novel adaptation is essentially an unashamed two-for-the-price-of-one Hogwarts at which young good and evil future fairy tale students are trained to maintain the balance of those forces; two village friends are transported to the titular academy but separated into (seemingly) the wrong factions and the battle to define what is good/evil commences as well as a battle against an emerging ancient enemy.  Ultimately, the film is a somewhat charmless and strained affair, with performances pitched at the hysterically arch level that is wearing over the film's ridiculously long run-time.  Fantasy/fairy tale references are stuffed in at every opportunity, the puberty/sexual metaphors are blunt, and for a female-led-and-targeted film the gender stereotyping is jaw-dropping.  Not even Charlize Theron and Michelle Yeoh save this one, which might appeal to very young girls but will prove quite a chore to anyone else.
 

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