Festival Fantasia 2020 : Detention

 

Video games movies in general never quite succeed to make an actual film that takes the charm and the elements loved by fans and use it properly so that the finished result embodies the the original product. Let's take some exemple to prove that point : Super Mario Bros. (1993), Mortal Kombat (1995), Street Fighter (1994), House of the Dead (2003), Hitman (2007), Far Cry (2008), Max Payne (2008), Assassin's Creed (2016), Rampage (2018). Just to name a few of course because I could of added so many more, and I'm not even counting all of the sequels, prequels, shequels and every single following that studios loves to fart out only to use it as cash grabs. 

BUT! Detention (2019), John Hsu new video game inspired movie. I say ''inspired'' because after watching only 15 minutes of actual gameplay on Youtube, I can easily say that the differences between the movie and the game are extremely embarrassing. The first big difference between the two is that they don't even have the same main character. Also the scare factor is completely different, just the teaser trailer for the game is a hundred times more terrifying than the movie! Honestly, I sometimes thought this movie was in the same universe as Silent Hill, unlike the game who really captures something new, more original, an actual nightmare. Also when in the movie is there talk about a typhoon?! I know, never. It felt like they made the atmosphere in the film just to make it more creepy but it just falls flat. At least, in the game it makes sense why the bridge is gone, why there is writings everywhere, why it's constantly raining. Also these idiots slept on one of the creepiest elements of the film, the water that destroys the bridge is actually blood! That's scary, in the game they even spend a good minute talking about why the water is red, that's interesting, not watching some terrified shy girl soaking wet not saying anything. Ray Shin is much more charming and interesting in the game than in the movie, it felt like the director said ''Well she killed everyone soooo.... be sad'' and that was her only direction for the entirety of the production.

This movie won a total of 12 awards... In which they won the Grand Prize at the Taipei Film Awards but also they won Best Visual Effect... Really? for that terrible General-Zombie-Mirror-Face-Creature? The CGI was so rough and unpolished it sometimes made me think of Cats (2019).... Remember that movie? I sadly do. They also won for best adapted screenplay, how did they win (or even be nominated) when the majority of the movie isn't completely true to the game? According to Focus Taiwan CNA English News, Wu Nien-jen, the jury president who's also Taiwan's most prolific scriptwriters said '' This is a direction that Taiwan can build on in the future ''. Are you sure? In Taiwanese cinema history this specific movie is the definition of progress? I guess so.

I feel bad sometimes, because it felt like they were truly trying to telling me about Taiwan's White Terror period and I won't lie they did interest me to know more about that specific moment in Taiwan's history, but they always broke those interesting historical moments with stupid jump scares right after.

Finally, I think this movie, even with all the awards it won, as a place in those failed video games adaptation movies. It falls lazy in it's scare elements and I personally didn't think it was true to the original product. I could of talked a bit more of the differences between the film and the game and why I think this movie didn't deserve certain prizes but sometimes all we can do at the end is just to move on.

Bye. -xxx-