29/33
A group of enterprising high school students band together to dismantle a rigged college admissions system. A remake of the Thai film Bad Genius (2017). The film opens with a scene showing Lynn calculating the cost of a trip to a private school she attended. The film shows a stack of public transportation tickets clearly marked with the SEPTA logo, which stands for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority. SEPTA operates in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Half a minute later, the film identifies the city Lynn and her father live in as Seattle. References Roots (1977). Bad Genius (2024) is a remake of the 2017 Thai film of the same name, using the 2017 original as its recipe – down to the dialogue, setting, atmosphere, character ambitions, even the placement of characters in the scene. It sticks to that recipe exactly, only deviating slightly at the end and changing some minor elements of the original plot. Somehow, it becomes a lackluster, 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 enjoyed so much that I’ve watched it more times than I care to admit; so yes, I’m biased. It has its faults – with the sound effects and the direction choices, it’s a bit cheesy at times – but it lands as a successful and engaging heist film. It was a huge success in its home country of Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia. However, it’s what this film did differently that drew me to it so much. The original 2017 film took on the daunting task of writing intelligent characters and placing them in the film’s otherwise dull test-bed atmosphere, while also making it somehow incredibly suspenseful. He took four fantastically cast leads who had no prior acting experience and turned them into stars. His production was killer, as he incorporated some of the excellent effects from his soundtrack into the text overlay used to convey his message. Lynn was *smart*. She seemed like a genuinely intelligent young woman with exceptional talent who had a loving father she cared about; a testament to the original writers. Their relationship felt natural, and the supporting cast ensured that with their acting and chemistry. His methods and schemes were portrayed through the film in a satisfying and enjoyable way. His relationship with his father was emotional and well-acted on both sides. The story had rhythm and purpose, but most of all, it had TENSION. And all of this was filmed and produced in a country that probably doesn’t consider itself a cinematic powerhouse. Bad Genius (2024) has none of what it’s trying to copy. The remake somehow manages to take all the right ingredients – lighting, suspenseful music, same plot, same characters – and turn it into a sloppy version of what feels like a bad dub of the original. There are no great moments. It has no charm. It has almost zero emotion. Lynn (2024) *acts* intelligent, but we don’t feel like this character is actually a genius. The classroom scenes *feel* like they’re trying to convey tension, but they’re just plain stupid. The supporting cast is lacking. It’s not even remotely exciting. All we’re left with is a well-translated, good father figure thanks to the great Benedict Wong, and a good performance by Callina Liang trying to revive a poor interpretation. There’s no reason to watch it. Watch the original if you haven’t (or if you want to watch it again) and thank me later.
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