The School for Good and Evil

This week, Paul Feig's newest film, The School for Good and Evil, was released on Netflix. This movie follows two friends that are swept away to a school that trains the next generation's heroes and villains to keep the balance between good and evil. When they first find themselves on opposite sides of the school, they soon uncover a more sinister plan that is at play.

This film is Paul Feig's attempt at a fantasy epic and he manages to pull it off reasonably well. One of the best things about this film is the world-building. The first hour of this film really lets you get lost in this world of magic and does an excellent job of building this world and establishing its rules. The film has a very Harry Potter esqe feel to it in the way that the film focuses on different classes and life at a magical school. The film also has just the right amount of action that you would expect from a fantasy film. It showcases both magic action as well as hand-to-hand combat with swords. The third act really allows for the perfect amount of action and magical battles that are normally in a fantasy epic. The two main characters are also very well written both in their contrasting personality and their overall character arcs. I also like how the movie handled their personality clashes and overall growth when they believe they are on the wrong side of the school. Overall, it is a solid fantasy film and something I wouldn't mind seeing more of.

However, there are a few things that keep this film from being great. One of the main issues is that there are too many plot threads that either go unresolved or just go nowhere in the story. Multiple times, there will be a concept or event that is made to be important in the scene but then is never spoken of again in the film. There are also just too many lapses in logic in the film. I understand that this is a fantasy film and that it isn't going to be realistic but some rules get established throughout the film that just seems to be ignored or changed. There are also moments where characters just have random powers that no one else seems to have and that is never really explained. Finally, I felt that the film had a bit of a pacing issue. The middle act seems to meander a good deal and the overall film just seems a bit too long. Had it been tightened up by about 30 minutes and lost some of the extraneous plot elements, I think it would have been much better.

Overall, this is a good fantasy film by Paul Feig with great world-building and solid characters. With a bit more tightening in the 2nd act and trimming of extra plot lines to get it down to about 2 hours, I think this could have been a top-tier Paul Feig film.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B Recommendation: Stream it