33/22
A group of high school business school seniors form a band to dismantle a rigged college admissions system. A remake of the Thai film Bad Genius (2017). The film opens with a scene where Lin calculates the cost of commuting to the private school she attends. The film shows a stack of public transportation tickets clearly marked with the 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 Lin and her father live in as Seattle.. References Roots (1977). Bad Genius (2024) is a 2017 remake of the Thai film of the same name. It follows the original 2017 film as a recipe—down to the dialogue, cinematography, atmosphere, characters’ ambitions, and even the characters’ placement on set. This one follows that recipe exactly, with just a slight deviation towards the end and a few minor changes to the original plot. Somehow, in doing so, it 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 care to admit; so yes, I’m biased. It has its flaws—it’s a bit of a sloppy sound effect and direction at times—but it’s considered 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 did differently that made it so appealing to me. The original 2017 film took on a difficult task: writing smart characters and creating them in a testing environment that would otherwise have been boring during filming. it was somehow incredibly tense. It took four fantastic acting actors with no prior acting experience and they made them stars. It was done through the roof, with some great effects from the soundtrack to the on-screen text overlay used to get the message across. Lynn was *smart*. She was a genuinely smart young woman with great talent who had a loving father she cared for; testament to the original writers. Her relationships felt natural, and the supporting actors delivered with their acting and chemistry. Her methods and schemes were showcased in the film in a satisfying and enjoyable way. Her relationship with her father was emotional and worked well on both ends. The story had pace and purpose, but most importantly, it had OVERVIEW. And all of this was filmed and produced in a country that might not be considered a film powerhouse. Bad Genius (2024) has little to nothing of what it tries to copy. The remake somehow manages to take all the right ingredients – lighting, suspenseful music, the same plot points, the same characters – and turn it into a sloppy rendition of what feels bad about the original. There are no great moments. It has no charm. It has almost zero emotion. Lin (2024) *acts* smart, but we don’t think the character is really a genius. The classroom scenes *seem* like they’re trying to convey suspense, but they mostly feel silly. The supporting cast is lacking. It’s not suspenseful in the slightest. All we’re left with is a good father figure, courtesy of the excellent Benedict Wong, and a good performance from Callina Liang, who tries to bring the bad portrayal to life. There’s no reason to watch it. Watch the original if you haven’t already (or want to watch it again) and thank me later.