The School for Good and Evil (2022)

My movie review for today is on the movie The School for good and evil. This is more like a fairytale kind of film. It tells the tale of two best friends; Sophie and Agatha, who find themselves on opposing sides of a modern fairy tale when they're swept away into an enchanted school where young heroes and villains are trained to protect the balance of good and evil.

This is based on a book series by Soman Chayanani, and I've not read it, so I don't know how this has been changed for the adaptation, if at all. But since I'm reviewing the movie and not the books, I think it's going to be okay.

This stars Sophia Ann Caruso as Sophie and Sophia Wiley as Agatha. But this also features Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yao, and the voice of Cate Blanchett, which at times was making me think I was watching The Lord of the Rings just because of her unmistakable voice and cadence while she's narrating.

We follow Sophie and Agatha as they get taken to the magical school for good and evil. Sophie wants to be there. As for Agatha, she doesn't.

The first portion of this story gives us some good background on their relationship and their friendship, which I think helps them to establish their values and their desires. This took quite a while for the movie to click with me. I mean, at about 30 minutes in, I still wasn't fully sold on what I was watching.

But by about the hour mark, I was enjoying myself and I was being entertained. The movie opens with a great magical battle, and I actually paused the movie very early on to see if this was directed by a Bollywood director, because the setup and just the way that it starts, it felt like it could be. And it wasn't.

But I really wish it had been, as there are so many times throughout this that the style of an Indian director would have taken advantage of the lavish sets and the story idea and then made it an epic just with singing and dancing and crazy action.

The story is straightforward and it's easy to follow, but it lacks the tension that it infers it's going to create. There's this nefarious plot at the core, but peril, danger, even intrigue, they're not present in the arc. It's conveyed matter of factly with no surprise or even nuance.

And there's talk about how the students at the school are the ones who could be chosen to play out stories that become our fairy tales. I would have loved to have seen some of this in action, but it's only an idea that's floated several times, making me think that it was an important aspect of the story. But without action to back it up, it's just a wasted story idea.

And the characters are basic, as I mentioned. I like the dynamic between Sophie and Agatha, and I really love the dynamic between Kerry Washington and Charlize Theron. Their banter is angsty and even kooky at times, but they both play their characters to the fullest, which sometimes makes them a bit absurd. And I loved it.

But everybody else, they're just present. If one or even several were to disappear, you'd barely notice.

There's even this mean girls type of addition to the story, but it's inconsequential and it's barely examined. There is conflict within many of the supporting characters, but that portion is so ill-defined that it just comes across as some privileged haves causing trouble for some perceived have-nots. The antagonism is clear, but it feels pointless in the grand scheme of the whole story.

There is some mystery supposedly being built that affects Sophie. But when the reveal comes, it's been so obvious from the very get go that I was confused at whether the story actually thought it was a true reveal. There's also a slight romance that's supposed to be at play, but that part feels like it's a half thought, like the writers want it to be present, but aren't going to devote enough time to actually make the relationship worthy of our swooning.

There's charisma between the characters, but it's not developed enough to be meaningful. I really enjoyed the world building, especially with the costumes. Because this is the school for good and evil, there are students that belong to one or the other.

The good side is filled with flowy gowns and princely costumes that just showcase bright colors that are typically very shiny. The evil side consists mainly of black clothing. And a lot of the time, the students are also fairly dirty, which I don't totally understand.

But it's kind of like your typical high school where there are two opposing cliques that not only differ in their dress, but also in their ideals. Special effects are impressive and immersive, which I thought was awesome to see. There are creatures, little bits of magic, and then these spectral images that help to just create the fantastical world.

I don't think this is a bad movie, but it's a bit lackluster. And when it takes almost half the runtime for me to get invested, I think that's asking a bit much of the audience. I did enjoy the movie once I was clicking with it, but it's not anything that turned out to be memorable or special.

There are a handful of characters that are enjoyable and they have good dynamics with each other. But the story is still very basic, with a lot of missed opportunities to create a captivating presentation. The school for good and evil introduces a world of magic and mystique, but fails to deliver on all its promises.

The acting is engaging, but many of the characters lack depth, relying on the charisma of the actors to keep audiences entertained. The special effects and costume designs elevate this, but visuals alone aren't enough to create a memorable fairy tale story. I give The school for good and evil 5/10.

Images: IMDb

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