A not-so-spellbinding young adult fantasy Netflix film: The School for Good and Evil review
With Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling seemingly determined to destroy her legacy – and the childhoods of everyone who grew up immersed in the world of Muggles, Hippogriffs, and Quidditch – there’s suddenly a gap in the market for a magical school fantasy which doesn’t come with any problematic baggage. Abracadabra, The School for Good and Evil. On the surface, the latest big-budget original Netflix movie seems tailor-made to reel in disillusioned Potterheads. There’s a Hogwarts-esque castle in which, as its title suggests, both the spell-casting heroes and villains of the future are trained. There are skeletal winged creatures, forbidden forests, and students who can shapeshift themselves into animals. Equally, like its counterpart, The School for Good and Evil's cast boasts more household names than you can shake a wand at. Even its narrator, Cate Blanchett, is a seven-time Academy Award nominee. Even so, Netflix's latest young adult (YA) fantasy offering isn't as ...