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The direction is awful, it's like cheap series in the 00s. The dialogues are childish, but not for children. The blonde protagonists has a duckface from lip fillers and she cannot express. The costumes are bearable. The story is very shallow and you really can't follow. I cannot believe they got such great actors to play in this absurdity, it's amazing that they accepted to participate. Also there mustn't be any kind of preparation or research before creating the screenplay, as they mistakenly say that Hercules was a fairytale but he was a real person in antiquity. The light is only good for the evil school, and for the good school is no light design at all. Wish they sent this money on upcoming filmmakers, they would have done it better.

I watched the trailer for this movie and thought it was good, and sadly, that's the only good thing about it. The School for Good and Evil is a chore from start to finish, and I didn't find one redeeming aspect in any of it. Not the story, the characters, or the world itself. The cringeworthy dialogue, the cast, and the cheap costumes are all inexcusably bad. I haven't read the source material, but it can't be that bad if the author sold enough books to write a second and a third book in the franchise. So after watching the film, I went through some reviews written by fans of the book series to see if they liked it. Alas, it's a tale as old as Netflix is as a company. What happened here is what always happens with Netflix adaptations. They bravely delivered on their promise to the butcher the source material, whether it be a series of books, anime, or video games.

As a fan of Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, and Resident Evil, I feel for the poor fans of The School for Good and Evil franchise. Welcome to the Netflix adaptations club!

There are two schools: the School for Good and the School for Evil. In the first, the students are trained to be fairy tale heroes, in the second, they are trained to be villains.

The whole plot is already super hard to execute, because what is good and what is evil? I think for such a difficult subject, it was not well enough thought through. It was very confusing a lot of the time and I could clearly tell the creators had a hard time adapting the book, because I'm sure they made it make much more sense in the books.

But then, the worst thing about this whole movie and just most fantasy stories in general, is that it is so stereotypical and predictable. The main character is always so special and different, but in reality they have no actual personality. The writers of 'The School for Good and Bad' really just copy past a character from another movie. They wanted to make Agatha cool and independent, but she annoyed me so much. Also the life lessons were very cliché, but then ... the ending. It was so predictable and unoriginal. I don't care if they just wanted to follow the plot of the book, if an element from the original story sucks, you change it. And the ending of this story definitely sucked.

The three stars I gave are for the special effects, the fact that no matter how bad it was, it was still very enjoyable and just because I think it deserves more than a two. I'm not saying you should avoid it at all costs, but just don't expect too much.

So many issues, where to begin...

Nothing makes sense. Nothing flows. Costumes range from traditional to stylized modern to completely off the wall. Accents and language are equally inconsistent. Is this a period piece or not? We have slo-mo, ala The Matrix, and oh, so much blood. But it's not gory, it's just there to look interesting, artful, but hollow.

Some actors play it straight, others are campy. Terribly cartoonish performances by Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington, which must be the directing because we know what they are capable of.

We start with a long exposition and fight scene. Then we jump to the two girls. It's the first of many jarring transitions. Cate Blanchette is supposed to help by serving as narrator, but she disappears for long stretches so when her voice reappears, that's anachronistic, too. It's like no one can agree what kind of movie this is, and who it's for: it wavers in a no-man's land between Maleficent and Disney's Descendents, both better films (yes! I'm calling Descendents a better film!)

Everyone calls Agatha ugly because her family is considered witches. This presumably ruins Aggie's self esteem. Well first, she's not ugly. If that's really a plot point in the book then Sofia Wylie was horribly miscast. And second, there is nothing vulnerable about Aggie, despite the trash talk.

I literally predicted character's lines three times in the film - word for word. I predicted plot points half a dozen times. This despite the characters' often irrational behavior. The school instructors flip attitudes and alliances it the bat of an eye. Aggie is angry at someone for mistakenly killing (yes, killing) a friend. But we see no mourning, and the killer is forgiven by the end if the day because we're told he's a good guy.

I think that's a key issue - we're told what to believe about these people, rather than being shown (Creative Writing 101: Show, don't tell.). This is especially problematic because a major theme of the film is that people are being manipulated into being considered good or evil. We should be able to tell what is a manipulation and what is their true nature, but it's all mushy.

And then there's the question of who the audience is supposed to be. The plot and characters are too weak for this to be an adult (or YA) drama. But it's too complicated, and artfully bloody, for kids. Throw in some swear words (Michelle Yeoh"s character saying she doesn't "give a s##t" in the final act, for instance) and you've narrowed your audience to about age 12-13. But mom has to watch, too, to address all the bullying and body image stuff - in a movie that, based on casting, was clearly intending to be inclusive.

Ugh. I need to go watch Ever After, to clear my brain of this mess.

I had high hopes for the film because I could enjoy it even with the bad plot. The actors, the dresses, the atmospere etc can be enough for me to give a movie a good rating but this wasn't the case with this movie. The idea itself is interesting but poorly realised, actors are not especially good and neither are costumes, the Descendants have the same vibe but are MUCH better.

I also couldn't get attached to any character and was absolutely bored. I just watched the two hours movie and I can barely summarize what has happend during this time My advice - go watch Descendants with Cameron Dove and don't waste your time on that film.

Well, I guess this is a book adaptation. Doesn't make me think very highly of the book. Unless this was just a really poor adaptation. What WAS this? I love a good fantasy, but this was SO all over the place. All of these things happened in TWO WEEKS? Give me a break. The production was fine, the CG wasn't even as bad as other reviews said. But the story was absolute garbage. If these schools aren't supposed to interact, why do they share a mess hall? Who are the first-years? And why do supposed first-years know all about the history of these schools? Are Aggie and Sophie the only non-fairy tale children who attend? Ugh. Did NOT enjoy.

I read the books and absolutely fell in love with them. However after watching this movie I was genuinely very disappointed with how it turned out. It felt rushed and messy and strayed so far from the books that it felt like an entirely different story altogether. Most of the scenes in the movie never happened and took away key moments in the story. It felt honestly cringy and I found it hard to watch in a lot of places. I expected a lot from this movie and it fell incredibly short. The ending was incredibly random and held no resemblance whatsoever to the books. It was a real shame to see Soman Chainanis wonderful books be butchered like that. I would not recommend this movie at all if you have read the books or have any idea of the plot. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to look at the books the same. Really disappointed.

I mean the film was clearly aimed at pre-teens and teens, and those who loved Harry Potter and want more of the same.

As a Harry Potter replacement it is not even a close second, or even a close fiftieth for that matter. It's more like a Disney Dark.

I struggled through the opening perhaps 4 timers before finally watching more than an hour, but at 2 hours and 25 minutes I just couldn't bear to finish it.

The acting was decidedly mediocre as was the dialogue. There was no real passion or even enthusiasm from the actors and the only scenes I really enjoyed were those with Charlize Theron. Although god alone knows why she chose to appear in this blancmange offering.

I think some kids in the 10-14 age range might like it but probably no-one else.

I really wanted to enjoy this movie. The cast is so good and they clearly spent a lot of money in it. But the dialogue is painful and the characters are utterly irritating. I've seen terrible movies and I've seen stupid movies, but it's been a long time since I've seen such a terrible stupid movie. The characters don't develop at all. The story is pointless. And it's so long. There were a few moments which were kind of interesting, and the CGI was really not bad at all. A few of the sets were passable. Overall though, it really feels like you're watching a people green screen. About halfway through the movie it kinda feels like the story is about to take off, but then it slows back down again. Such a waste of talent, money and time.

This movie is like a bad Harry Potter movie made for TV. Instead of the four houses, there are two. Of course, there is a bad wizard who's coming back from the death, and different classes with different teachers. But this is where the similitude ends. The brilliant HP stories and characters are replaced by a reversion of the typical US High School movies, but instead of (wherever) High it happens in the school of good and evil... Don't waste your time. Go for the originals. If you like magic movies for kids, get HP. If you like high school movies, there are plenty more entertaining.

And the worst part is that Netflix seems to have spent a good deal of money for this movie. Wasted money, I think...

Sometimes, a movie is so bad, that it becomes funny to watch them just to see how bad it can still get.

This is one of them. The Story is something between Harry Porter, Wednesday and Shrek. The thing is that is neither of them. It tries to be dark, and it tries to make funny references to well-known fairy tales, and it tries to depict over the top absurd situations. The result is that it neither creates tension, nor is it funny. The story is so poorly written. Things are very predictable, and if something unexpected is happening, you get more a wtf impression than a wow.

The actors for the 2 main characters are too old. These are young adults trying to play teenagers and it looks so cringy.

The movie deserves just a 1, but I give it a 3 for the unwanted funny part of it being so bad.

Im a avid fantasy reader and watcher of fantasy movies and thought the summary of this movie was interesting and also some of the actors and actresses staring.

That said I'm also a white male 55 year old and I soon found out that I'm not the intended viewer of this movie. First off I found that the modern language and music put me of, of feeling any kind of medieval mood.

The story also was way to simple and boring the main character does not get much to work with. Sure the special effects was good but without meaning just for show. Imdb states that this is a action comedy but I found the action to booring nothing more exiting than an old cartoon and the comedy, well I did not find anything funny about it.

So if I imagine myself a old child or young teen would I find this film entertaining? Perhaps a little more but not much.

In layman's terms it is very very lame.

It could have been much better if it was perhaps written and directed by Quentin Tarantino or John Hughes just imagine.

Instead I would recommend these movies/series:

The Princess bride 10th Kingdom Willow.

I don't know the source material but I can only hope it is better than this.

The story is filled with clichés in what ironically aims to be an attempt at subverting these same clichés. Twists, if that's what I should call them, are either dumb or predictable. Like I said in the title: this might appeal to tweens but that's about it.

The CGI is CW levels of bad and on top of that costumes, make up and sets look cheap.

Not a single acting performance is better than "meh" and this includes people like Theron, Fishburne, Yeoh and Washington. All of them seem to just be there for the payday. The best performance is by Cate Blanchett as the narrator.

Its a long movie so I was expecting some story building, a gradual rise in tension until it reaches the climax with the final end battle and of course being able to root for the main characters. From the trailer it looked like this was intended to be a fun and colorful entertainment.

That was the expectation, let's see what I got in return...

It was colourful, the special effects, like the castle and the figures were well made. That got also validated from the trailer. The more known actors did a good job although on small roles. It wasn't funny at all. At least not in the sense of the fun I prefer. It was cringeworthy, silly funny. Like, I laughed, how silly and how bad this is being made, lol.

To the story, there was no real suspense. You know who will win against really any laws and rules, because it's not the first time Hollywood has done it.

Even worse, there was no moral teaching in this movie that makes it interesting to the viewer. In a school for good and evil, the main characters want everyone to be both, not pure good and not pure evil. To not fight within themselves to become better, just accept themselves as mortal humans.

So, there's no struggle. A higher goal. Sophie just wants to become a Princess and is mad when she gets assigned to the evil school and Agatha wants to go back to home and doesn't care about the place at all.

If the writers and producers share the same approach to make movies...In essence we didn't make a bad or good movie, it's just a movie and we don't care about audience. You can hardly expect any better works from this group. I'll avoid any future movies this group makes.

There were so many things wrong with this one, that watching it with at least another person to make fun of it and laugh together, is the only way to suffer through 2 hours and a half runtime.

Let me warn you again. It's unbelievable bad and my recommendation to watch this goes only to small girls who are fans of the fairytale theme.

All in all. 3 stars.

First of all, this review is not with Oscar worthy film or performances, expectation.

Storyline, plot, script and acting, most of the time are too desperate and try-hard, at some points it became super annoying and cringy.

I'm not surprise when i found out who the director is.

Don't manipulate teenage theme or not Oscar worthy film, and sunk it deep down below, because it is a teenage movie, or not Oscar worthy film.

"Laziness", "not so smart", try-hard, desperate, are not a must in teenage themes. So don't reasons with "Chill, what do you expect from a teenage movie?" nonsense.

If a movie not meant for Oscar, so it can be crafted badly? Talking about open minded, what a clown.

And those agendas is a must now in movie making?

I manage to overcome my struggle to finished the movie just because i want to show how disappointed i am by dropping my review.

The stars just for some good soundtracks and CGI, ....... some.

There was potential :/ the story line could have been great. The beginning was ok but somewhere around the middle it went wrong. The story felt as if someone was picking random events from a bowl. Giving me Walmart Harry Potter vibes :/ I was really hyped, because the story sounded amazing. But all I got was 2 hours of watching in agony.

And the acting... man o man. Felt like I was watching a B movie with A actors. Samuel L jackson, Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington and this is all you could give. This movie DID NOTT do them justice. I feel sorry for them. This was really below their level.