15/41
A group of entrepreneurial high school seniors join forces to overthrow a rigged college admissions system. A remake of the Thai film Bad Genius (2017). The film opens with a scene where Lynn calculates the cost of a trip to a private school she attended. The video shows a bunch of public transportation tickets clearly marked with the SEPTA logo, which stands for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA operates in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Thirty minutes later, the film identifies the city where Lynn and her father live as Seattle. References Roots (1977). Bad Genius (2024) is a remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name. It uses the 2017 original as a recipe – right down to the dialogue, settings, mood, character goals, and even character placement. It follows that recipe closely, only slightly deviating towards the end and changing a few small plot elements from the original. Somehow, it becomes a dull, lazy, and forced experience. To understand why, we need to talk a little about the original 2017 film and what made it so special. Bad Genius (2017) is a film that I loved so much that I watched it more times than I care to admit; so yes, I’m biased. It has its flaws – it’s a bit clunky at times with the sound effects and direction choices – but it lands as a successful and engaging heist film. It was a huge hit in its home country of Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia. However, what this film achieved is what made me so drawn to it. The original 2017 film took on the difficult task of writing intelligent characters and placing them in a trying atmosphere that would otherwise be a dull film, but somehow made it incredibly exciting. It took four fantastically acting leads with little to no previous acting experience and made them stars. The production was top notch, with great effects from the soundtrack to the on-screen text used to convey the message. Lynn was *smart*. She came across as a genuinely intelligent young woman with extraordinary abilities and a loving father she cared about; testament to the original writers. Her relationships felt natural, and the supporting cast nailed it with acting and chemistry. Her methods and patterns were presented throughout the film in a satisfying and enjoyable way. Her relationship with her father was emotional and well-acted on both sides. The story had pace and purpose, but most importantly, it had suspense. And it was all filmed and produced in a country that is probably not considered a cinematic powerhouse. Bad Genius (2024) contains almost none of what it is trying to copy. The remake somehow manages to take all the right ingredients – lighting, exciting music, same plot points, same characters – and turn it into a sloppy interpretation of the original’s poor dub. There are no great moments. There is no charm. She has almost zero emotion. Lynn (2024) *acts* intelligently, but we don’t feel like this character is a true genius. The classroom scenes *feel* like they’re trying to convey excitement, but they just seem mostly stupid. The supporting cast is weak. It’s not exciting in the slightest. All that’s left is a good father figure, courtesy of the wonderful Benedict Wong, and a good performance by Callina Liang trying to liven up the poor interpretation. There’s no reason to watch this. Watch the original if you haven’t already (or if you just want to watch it again) and thank me later.