The School for Good and Evil

I enjoyed watching this movie and it was good overall. The scenery was beautiful,despite some lacking CGI like in the case of the wolf heads. I read this series of books about 6-7 years ago so I don't exactly remember the plot/essence of those, so I can't comment on the accuracy of this adaptation. The acting, especially on the part of sophie anne caruso, was pretty poorly done. To be fair, the writing did not do her character any justice either but the acting made the character overall bad. I thought sofia wylie did an excellent job, as well as charlize theron, kerry washington, and Michelle yeoh. The character of tedros was also poorly written and acted, and honestly the relationship betweeen tedros and sophie was not written or developed well in the movie. Overall this movie was just average, not terrible or anything, but I will not be rewatching ever. If the story is interesting to you, I would recommend reading the book series, as the author has quite a few other books in this series written.

Fun to watch with my older kids, never really boring. Some cheesy moments but nothing in comparison to how cheesy and unbearable Descendants is so if you have to pick one go with THIS one. Fantastic art direction and costuming also really brings the whole vibe of the story together. And having some famous older actors we love was a very nice touch too and they seem to be having fun in their roles in this. The only issue I had is that this is a fairy tale theme not in the real world yet one of the main characters says "Oh my God" about 24 times in a 3 min span like as typical teenager when she's freaking out over her friend being hurt near the end. I don't know if this was a misstep, clearly the actress was adlibbing and that is what she would have said in real life, but it's kind of hilarious because you're definitely taken out of the storybook fairy tale land here. Not a complaint, it's just really funny when they're literally in medieval fairy gowns and she's like "oh my god, like oh my god, like, oh my god.." had me and my kids cracking up. But yeah, we loved it honestly.

I've never read the books this was based on so I cannot comment if it's faithful or accurate.. I tuned in because I saw Cate, Charlize, and Laurence in the casting. It wasn't a masterpiece but it did deliver a good light hearted fantasy story.

The overall vibe of the movie reminded me of these children's books I've read as a kid with bright colorful pictures that tell a straightforward adventure story with a simple message at the end. It's predictable and no gritty plot twists which might be a downside for some but I wasn't expecting that to begin with. It's just light and fun, perhaps also touching in some scenes.

I love that it's sharp and saturated and not dull like what we normally get currently, especially during night scenes. Here you can clearly see everything. They really nailed the aesthetic of fairytale. The costumes as well!

The CGI and action sequences are doable enough. The music choices hit and miss. As for the actors, I like them enough. Charlize and Kerry were such fun contrasts of each other. Laurence Sophia Anne Caruso I think really nailed her character. She has this very Disney princess vibe to her even her voice. Sofia Wylie also did great but I can't quite see her as a gloomy character she's supposed to be portraying?

Overall I find it quite campy to the point of cheesy drama but I liked it anyway coz to me it fits the the vibe and theme of the story. It's giving similar to Enchanted or Ella Enchanted. I also liked that the focus was their friendship. I would've rated this movie higher if they made it as a series to really flesh out the characters of more characters... but alas.

Some of these reviews apparently expected this to be a mix of The Godfather and Avengers: Infinity War. Look, it's fine. If you're walking into this looking for some Oscar-worthy performances, you should just turn around. It's a YA interpretation on film. That's it.

There's some cute stuff. Some fun stuff. Some cringe stuff. Which pretty much is everything YA anyway. The biggest fault is the run time. Two and a half hours is a lot to commit to this. But to its credit, it doesn't really drag.

I do agree with one reviewer that it may have been better off as a show than a lengthy movie. But let's just take this for what it is - a studio filler movie for some actors and producers to honor their contracts. Once you get that in your mind, it's easy to enjoy this movie.

I'd give this a 6.5 if it was an option, but it's not, and I'm not going to round up.

I never read the books so I can't tell how accurate the adaption is. This Netflix production is definitely not the best but also not the worst fantasy movie. It's like a typical Nickelodeon/Disney channel production (with better effects and costumes) in my feeling and I think it will find it's audience.

I was entertained by it and I guess it's fine for watching one time. It has a nice cast and costumes. The CGI could have been better but is fine compared to other movies on Disney channel level.

The story and the characters are pretty mediocre and for my taste, they are relying too hard on clichés. On the other hand I think that some people will love it especially for this. It definitely falls into the category guilty pleasure.

So if you don't expect much and like cheesy fantasy movies for children/teenager, this movie could be something for you.

If you are not the target audience or don't like these kind of movies, stay away from it. You can't compare it to movies like Harry Potter, Panem and Maze Runner. But to be fair, I don't think that the movie ever intended to be compared with them.