Mad Genius (2017)

Director: Royce Gorsuch

Writer: Royce Gorsuch (Screenplay)

Starring: Spencer Locke, Scott Mechlowicz, Faran Tahir, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Levy Tran, Chris Mason, Tehmina Sunny

Plot: A young mad genius attempts to ‘hack the human mind’ in order to fix humanity.

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Ambitious Sci-Fi Film

Story: Mad Genius starts as we meet hacker Mason (Mason), he has hacked anything in the world, but never feels like he has accomplished anything, now he wants to save the world by figuring out a way of reprogramming the human brain to avoid the destructive nature.

Going about this means going up against the deadly hacker Eden (Tahir), while dealing with his imaginary projection Finn (Mechlowicz) to whom he bounces ideas off, as he looks to solve what he sees is the biggest problem in the world, the human mind.

Thoughts on Mad Genius

Characters – Mason is brilliant hacker, he has hacked government projects before, he feels like there is more that he can do, when he wants to start to fix the human mind to get rid of the destructive nature, he must work with his projection that can push the limits to make things happen, he is always on the edge of reality and insanity which makes him an interesting figure to try and save the world. Finn is the projection that Mason has created, he plays out like an angel and devil on the shoulder giving him good and bad ideas to succeed at certain objectives. Sawyer is the young woman that walks into Mason’s life though she has a bigger meaning in his mind. Eden is the hacker that has been working on the mind conversion and the enemy that Mason makes, he will hurt people for information when looking for his tools that Mason steals. 

Performances – Chris Mason is good in the leading role, you can see both sides of his mentality as he is on the edge. Scott Mechlowicz gets to have the most fun because he character can do and say what is on the mind of Mason, loud and brash throughout. Faran Tahir is always good for a villainous role and this is no different. Spencer Locke does a good job when we see her, but her role isn’t written as strong as the rest of the main cast.

Story – The story here follows the idea of trying to use a machine to reprogram the human mind to solve the problems in the world, we are in the world of hackers for this story which shows the danger they will be facing and the different limits people will go to for the same information. This will ask the question about where the human mind will be, and would you want to fix the mind to solve problems or let the mind learn the solve the problems. The tone of the story is strange though because part of the film does feel like it is a young adult style film, but the tones being shown wouldn’t be for that audience.

Sci-Fi – The sci-fi elements of this film come from being able to use technology to try and control the human mind, beyond ambitious with the concept, but believable with an idea.

Settings – The film keeps us in the settings you would imagine hackers to operate in, we would see where they meet, hang out and conduct their experiments to get to the next level of success.

Special Effects – The effects are consistent with how they are shown, they start of strange, but by the end of the film the jamming like moments look and fit the film.

Scene of the Movie – The glitches start.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain moments of comedy or banter feel like a different movie.

Final Thoughts – This is an ambitious sci-fi film that will ask questions to the audience which is what we like to see and even though we go down the path you would expect this is an enjoyable watch.

Overall: Sci-Fi fans will enjoy.

Rating

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