47/12
A group of students at an entrepreneurial high school team up to dismantle a rigged college admissions system. Remake of the Thai film Bad Genius (2017). Early in the film, there is a scene showing Lynn calculating the cost of her ride to the private school she visited. The film shows a stack of transit tickets that are clearly marked with a SEPTA logo, which stands for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA operates in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Half a minute later, the film identifies the city where Lynn and Dad live as Seattle. References Roots (1977). Bad Genius (2024) is a remake of a 2017 Thai film of the same name. It uses the 2017 original as a recipe – down to the dialogue, the sets, the atmosphere, the ambitions of the characters, even the placement of the characters on the set. It follows that formula exactly, only deviating slightly towards the end and changing a few minor elements of the original plot. In doing so, it somehow becomes a bland, 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’ve watched it more times than I’d like to admit; so yes, I’m biased. It has its flaws – it’s a bit cheesy at times with the sound effects and directorial choices – but it proves to be a successful and engaging heist film. It was a huge hit in its home country of Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia. However, it’s what this film accomplished elsewhere that drew me in so much. The original 2017 film took on the difficult task of writing intelligent characters and placing them in a testing atmosphere that would otherwise be boring in a movie theater, while still making it incredibly suspenseful. It took four fantastic actors who had little to no previous acting experience and made them stars. Its production was excellent, incorporating great effects from its soundtrack to the on-screen display of the text overlay used to convey its message. Lynn was *intelligent*. She came across as a genuinely intelligent young woman with exceptional talents who had a loving father she cared about; testaments to the original writers. Her relationships felt natural, and the supporting cast made sure of that in their acting and chemistry. Her methods and schemes were presented in a satisfying and enjoyable way in the cinema. 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 all of this was filmed and produced in a country that probably isn’t considered a movie powerhouse. Bad Genius (2024) has little to none of what it’s trying to copy. The remake somehow manages to take all the right ingredients—lighting, suspenseful music, same plot points, same characters—and turn it into a sloppy rendition of what feels like a mediocre dub of the original. There are no great moments. It has no charm. There’s almost no emotion. Lynn (2024) *acts* smart, but we don’t get the sense that the character is actually a genius. The classroom scenes *feel* like they’re trying to convey suspense, but they mostly just come off as ridiculous. The supporting cast is lacking. There’s no suspense whatsoever. All we have left that is good in translation is a good father figure, thanks to the great Benedict Wong, and some good acting from Callina Liang who tries to bring the bad performance to life. There is no reason to watch this. Watch the original if you haven’t (or just want to watch it again) and thank me later.
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