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THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL
Director: Paul Feig Cast: Sophia Anne Caruso, Sofia Wylie, Jamie Flatters, Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Earl Cave, Freya Parks, Holly Sturton, Kit Young, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Serafinowicz, the voice of Cate Blanchett MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 2:27 Release Date: 10/12/22 (limited); 10/19/22 (Netflix) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 19, 2022 Fairy tales, myths, and legends leave very little room for moral ambiguity. There is good, and there is evil. There are heroes, and there are villains. That's the world of The School for Good and Evil at the film's start, at least. While director Paul Feig's adaptation of the first book in Soman Chainai's series of fantasy novels takes some time to find its footing, the material reveals itself to have a bit more on its mind than the unambiguous and somewhat generic setup might suggest. That setup, of course, involves the eponymous school, a place of magic and some witchcraft located far away from the prying eyes of ordinary mortals. While Chainai (who also co-wrote the screenplay) surely had to have been influenced by a certain other series of books revolving around a magical education, the school of this tale isn't about training wizards and witches. It is, though, to teach future heroes and future villains the qualities that will make them the subjects of tales for generations to come. Among the school's graduates, apparently, are the likes of King Arthur and Red Riding Hood and Cinderella within the category of heroes, as well as Captain Hook and the witch who tried to cook a couple of curious German children among the ranks of villains. One of our two protagonists in this particular story certainly fits the mold of an unlikely hero, waiting for great things to come from humble beginnings. She's Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso), pretty and blonde and dreaming of meeting a handsome prince at a ball one day. In reality, she does a lot of chores around the house, has a stepmother who demands much of her and overlooks her for her younger siblings, and lives in a little village where nothing of note, let alone something of legend, has ever occurred. Her best friend is Agatha (Sofia Wylie), who lives on the outskirts of town and near a cemetery, in a rundown cottage where her mother imagines herself a witch but makes useless potions. Because of that, the kids in town assume she is a witch-in-the-making, shunning and mocking Agatha for that. Only Sophie doesn't judge her, because the two bonded in as kids, since Agatha seemed to be the only one to show Sophie some sympathy when her mother died. In theory, we have met our hero, a soon-to-be princess who proves everyone wrong with her goodness, and our villain, a witch-to-be who will try to get in the way of the hero's destiny. In practice, we have, in that these characters do fit those molds after they're whisked away to the School for Good and Evil because Sophie wished it so, and we haven't—not only because the story offers a significant twist on our expectations about these characters and the backgrounds, but also because some simple dichotomy of good and evil isn't the point here. Anyway, Sophie wishes to go to the school, in order to fulfill what she believes to be her fate and reward as a good person, but in what she and Agatha think must be a mistake, Sophie ends up in the evil class, while her friend winds up among the good. The screenplay, written by the author and David Magee, has a clunky stretch as the story sets out to introduce this conflict, a slew of supporting characters of various degrees of importance, a basic understanding of the school and its curriculum, and the underlying philosophy that the place exists in order to maintain a balance between good and evil. As for the last part, it has to do with a decades-ago battle between twin brothers, the evil Rafal and the good Rhian (both played by Kit Young, while Laurence Fishburne plays the victor, now the school's headmaster), but most of that doesn't matter until the focus of the plot arrives much later. For the most part, the narrative follows the main characters as they learn the workings of the school and scheme, for Sophie, to be put in the "correct" section or, for Agatha, to be returned home. A lot of it is played for humor, as Kerry Washington and Charlize Theron admirably ham it up as the respective deans of the good and evil houses, while the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Peter Serafinowicz are underutilized as some of the instructors. Meanwhile, a love triangle of sorts forms between Sophie, Agatha, and Tendros (Jamie Flatters), the son of King Arthur who's looking for a new queen for Camelot. Again, most of this is fairly generic on the surface, although Feig does the have good sense to play much of it for laughs and the cast members, particularly the two leads, match the film's wavelength of satirizing without demeaning. Beneath the surface, though, something sinister and subversive is afoot, and it's only partially to do with apparent resurrection of Rafal. It's more about how people's motives for obtaining the beauty and glory of being a hero might make them quite the opposite. Outward appearances can be deceiving, and in the way this story gradually becomes more philosophically minded about the natures of good and evil beyond some storybook ideal, that's kind of the case with the film, too. The School for Good and Evil takes its time—a bit too much, perhaps, even if it is somewhat understandable considering how much exposition it has to establish—to develop into something deeper than its superficial trappings. It has a mind and a sense of complicated morality to it, and in the realm of fantastical stories aimed at young adults, that puts it a step or two above some of its peers. Copyright © 2022 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for violence and action, and some frightening images)
