5.9 stars. I see there is a major variance in people's opinions. 'Uglies' is not what I thought it would be. It's like 'Hunger Games' for ten year olds at first....but in the end this is not for children. It starts off with a bang and is very engaging and entertaining for the first half hour. But soon we realize all of the characters are totally ignorant of the state of the world (post apocalyptic ruin). Even the villain is not believable and the trans theme is intertwined with the evil aspects of the narrative, and it's weird. Into the second act, the main character goes on a perilous trek, but has no concept of the dangers. The secondary female is more in tune with the reality of the situation (for a while), but the way the characters are disconnected from reality, detracts from the plausibility. Because of this, the movie is not believable, or impactful, even though it's somewhat entertaining (for a while). There are huge plot gaps. The 90 minute runtime is not enough to complete the narrative. And yet, I'm glad it wasn't longer, because I wanted it to end. There is a flurry of action sequences akin to 'The Matrix' or 'Star Wars', where people are doing uncanny feats, defying the laws of physics, yet these are supposedly normal humans. Are we supposed to imagine that people in the future can do these things? On a positive note, the special effects are good. The only character with any intelligence is the 16 year old protagonist. She looks young for her age, but not that young. The presentation does not overcome the lack of credibility and flow. It's just too far-fetched and the director does not bridge the gaps. Like I said, it's all over the place. I detect some potential, but in the end, it simply falls flat.

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