The movie starts out promisingly. It sets up the school’s binary with all the promise of dismantling it piece by piece. Unfortunately, it does not make good on its promise. The movie spends most of its time trying to prove that the school is evil, while barely mentioning Agatha’s arguments against it. By the end, you’re so tired of hearing these same tired arguments over and over again that you don’t even care if the school is good or bad.
The movie tries to address several different themes, but each one gets a cursory treatment without any space for discussion or depth.
The film’s focus on physical appearances is ironic because the characters change their clothing to represent good and evil, but the film never completes its argument on physical appearances. ..
The movie falls victim to clichés in many ways, but one of the most glaring is the trope of the male lead falling for the girl who “isn’t like the rest.” This trope is often used to make the female lead seem more desirable or interesting, and it can be a turn-off for some viewers.
The film is poorly written and lacks depth, particularly for a piece of young adult entertainment.
The worldbuilding in the movie feels flat and hollow. Sophie and Agatha are thrown right into the school but they never explore the world beyond it. The movie is chock full of references to well-known fairy-tale characters but not more than a few lines are spent on delving into the world or how it functions. Even the magic is conveniently vague, with no rules or specificity within which to work. Considering it is meant to be the place of origin for so many beloved stories, there was plenty of potential to make it interesting.
Our main leads are compelling and fun to root for but they have no satisfying character arc, at least not a convincing one. The rest of the cast, a shockingly star-studded one at that, doesn’t have much to do beyond the very specific roles they play. While the performances themselves are top-notch, none of the characters gets the depth they deserve. It’s a feat, considering the bloated run time of 2 hours and 27 minutes.
The writing is weak and the visuals are not as impressive as they could be. However, there are some good moments in the book. For example, there is a scene where a girl’s dragon tattoo comes alive right off her shoulder and it looks really cool. However, there are also a few misses in this department too. For example, at one point a statue of cupid comes alive as a toddler and it looks straight out of the uncanny valley. The toddler then transforms into a grizzly man who chases Agatha. It seems they were trying to replicate Hogwarts’ labyrinth of dangerous objects and creatures but it was far from the same effect.
The film ends with a satisfying resolution, but it’s not one that is particularly meaningful or stirring. The story was well-intentioned, but the narrative failed to live up to its own goals. The cast and crew were stunning, but the VFX work was poor. The School for Good and Evil is an aesthetic rather than a story with a meaningful message.
The School for Good and Evil ending explained: In the end, the good guys won. The evil school was destroyed, and everyone who attended it was sent to prison. ..
