The only fun to be had during the act of supreme theft that is Mad Genius is keeping track of where it diverges from its unwitting source material. Instead of Christian Slater as the creepy, conniving Mr. Robot, we have Scott Mechlowicz as Finn, who in his sweaty sleeveless T-shirts, useless suspenders, and fingerless gloves looks like he just stepped out of an all-night Leipzig techno party at 6 a.m. At one point he chews gum with a cigarette in his mouth. Who does that?
“Bringing back the looks of early-90’s cyberpunk in 2018 is cool. Unlike stealing from a show that’s three years old…”
He’s indicative of the few things Mad Genius doesn’t take from Mr. Robot. Where the show’s desaturated, bleak cinematography infuses every setting with dread and paranoia, Mad Genius is colorful, especially in the interiors. Where the show has zeitgeisty ambitions to reflect the tone and texture of post-Occupy America, Mad Genius invents its own world of goofy retro-hacker madness. The costume design is the one thing I love about it: the brightly colored mohawks, leather jackets, nose rings, and glowsticks brought me back to cyberpunk classics like Johnny Mnemonic and Strange Days. The secondary characters have names to match their hilarious wardrobes: Eden, Sun Moon, Zip, Angel.
You could say that all sounds cliché and outdated, and you’d be right, but that’s why it’s awesome. It’s the only silver lining of inspiration in this dead husk of a movie. Bringing back the looks of early-90’s cyberpunk in 2018 is cool. Unlike stealing from a show that’s three years old.
Mad Genius (2018) Written and directed by Royce Gorsuch. Starring Chris Mason, Scott Mechlowicz, Spencer Locke, Faran Tahir.
4 out of 10 robotic monsieurs
Dude. Subtext of this movie is terrible, like neo-nazi terrible.
Look at your characters-
Black pimp drug dealer (who is tortured)
Black junkie ( who is beaten by an Aryan looking dude with a Nazi haircut at the prodding of a Proud Boy looking dude)
Woman of color who is killed, beaten ? in weird flashbacks,
Asian man (who is beaten and tortured by said white boy and cuts his own throat)
Manic pixie girl (who is pure white Aryan stock)
You may have written this in 2012, but you styled and cast it in 2017 well within our current white supremacist troubled zeitgiest so please don’t try to say you couldn’t see this….this movie must be on Richard Spencer’s Netflix list right after ‘Triumph of the Will’.
F**k off!
Hey Adam,
It’s Royce here, the filmmaker who made Mad Genius. I got a copy of your review here, and while I’m not asking you to change your mind about some things, I did want to share something with you about the Mr. Robot references.
I first wrote this script in 2012. Years before Mr. Robot came out.
I thought that this type of story was missing from the zeitgeist… Then, as I cobbled together the tiny independent budget to make it, Mr. Robot came out. Right during our film’s pre-production! As you can imagine, I was shocked how similar it was. Uncanny. Like a universal mind or something.
So, knowing, this, I wonder if you might re-examine some of your review, with fresh eyes knowing that the Mad Genius story was not stolen, or ripped off. But in fact, simultaneously conceived as Mr. Robot. Pretty strange right?
Best,