When Squid Game came out on Netflix, there was a reason it was a resounding success. Aside from the obvious of great performances, the great cinematography, and set pieces that were unique and inspired awe and terror, there were also poignant themes of greed, betrayal, friendship, and doing what it takes to survive a hellish nightmare through moments of humor, brutality, and dread. There were moments that were tender, thought provoking, terrifying, and downright heartbreaking, one episode causing me to walk away due to the fact that I was tearing up. Plus it did the near impossible and broke the language barrier if Korea and became a world wide success.
So why bring this up? Well, because The Octogames is nothing more than a clear imitator of the show and downright steals the concept of Squid Game, aside from a few differences. While I can't say that for the director's other work as I haven't watched it, this is clear plagiarism at play here.
In this story, a massive influencer named JaxPro decides to hold a competition to see who will inherit his multi million follower account on YouTube, with the catch being 8 different children's games with deadly consequences. The production quality at first seems like it's another youtube video playing on the Squid Game trend, until you realize that this is an hour and thirty minute long movie and once the killings start, it plays out nearly the same as Squid Game. And no, this isn't a parody movie in the likes of Starving Games or the "Movie" movies, this is very much played seriously for the most part; The actors attempt to play off these scenes very seriously and most do not have the acting chops for it (specifically Squish, who is so bland that wheat cereal seems desirable, and Ruth, who's over the top faces and strange delivery is almost alien). I can at least say that Carrie and Walter are without a doubt the best actors in this film, but even their delivery falls flat due to the material and writing. Everyone else is just bland, forgettable, dull, and at times laughably bad, despite the writing trying to get you to think that there's serious bonds and rivalries happening.
And without a doubt, JaxPro is the strangest addition in this movie. This is not a dig at the actor as his performance isn't bad, but the writing and direction is just so strange. I'm guessing it was supposed to play off the current YouTube influencer attitude, but it makes for a very lackluster villain. There's nothing intimidating or scary about him and we're pretty much given everything about him at the beginning of the movie. Compare this to the game master of Squid Game, who was shrouded in mystery throughout the show and who's actions were truly unpredictable, with an intimidating voice to boot. Yes there's a lot of Squid Game comparisons, but it's going to happen, it's literally copying it.
And speaking of which, let's talk about the games, the main draw of these shows outside of the drama. The movie follows the same format with each of the games being based of children's games, but with none of the flair. Where Squid Game had elaborate death traps that got worse and worse as time went on, constantly making you guess what would be next and how gruesome the kills would be, the bare minimum was done here: LED hopscotch in a dark room, Chairs in the middle of a room for musical chairs, woods, and at one point, A LITERAL RENTAL BOUNCE HOUSE. Top that with some AWFUL transition texts for each game and it feels amateur. And whereas Squid Game had brutal deaths unique to each of its games, the majority of deaths involve a fox furry...no, you did not read that wrong. Throughout the movie, aside the guards (again ripped from the show except they have airsoft masks instead of the iconic shapes), most of the contestants are killed off by a psychotic furry in a costume so poor it's laughable. He carries out most of the kills and they usually play out the same with ridiculous and poorly done choreography. What's even worse is when his mask is removed, the character is the perfect amount of psychotic and over the top that it makes the inclusion of the outfit even more insulting.
As mentioned before, there's attempts at friendships rivalries and betrayals, but the writing is so poor and underdeveloped that it falls flat on its face trying to get people to care for the characters, and some dialogue choices felt like they were pulled from memes nearly 5 years ago despite this being a 2022 movie. You can also predict who will live and who will die since some of the poorly imitated relationships end up having similar results to that of Squid Game...and the ending to the film feels both predictable and like it was all for nothing, completely missing the point of why Squid Games' bleak ending, while not perfect, still somewhat worked.
I won't lie, at first, I thought it was comical that this existed. It was clearly a ripoff capitalizing off of a great product while fundamentally misunderstanding what made it great to begin with. I had a few laughs and jokes, but as the run time went on and the realization that I was not finished with the movie sat in, that humor turned to apathy. By the end of it, the text "JaxPo will return" only filled me with anger because it did nothing notable to even dare trying to warrant a sequel. But then again, maybe they'll wait till Squid Games season 2 to completely butcher that concept as well.
There's nothing good about this film. It's a cheap, soulless ripoff that was only entertaining for how laughably bad it is, but it gets old after 5 minutes...and youve got another 85 to go...and you feel every minute of it. Don't waste your time with this film. Run away from it. You won't be entertained, only annoyed. You won't feel joy, only apathy.
And to the creators of this film...stick to original products and stories in the future. I can't say they'd be great, but you'll at least have a leg to stand on in terms of originality.
So why bring this up? Well, because The Octogames is nothing more than a clear imitator of the show and downright steals the concept of Squid Game, aside from a few differences. While I can't say that for the director's other work as I haven't watched it, this is clear plagiarism at play here.
In this story, a massive influencer named JaxPro decides to hold a competition to see who will inherit his multi million follower account on YouTube, with the catch being 8 different children's games with deadly consequences. The production quality at first seems like it's another youtube video playing on the Squid Game trend, until you realize that this is an hour and thirty minute long movie and once the killings start, it plays out nearly the same as Squid Game. And no, this isn't a parody movie in the likes of Starving Games or the "Movie" movies, this is very much played seriously for the most part; The actors attempt to play off these scenes very seriously and most do not have the acting chops for it (specifically Squish, who is so bland that wheat cereal seems desirable, and Ruth, who's over the top faces and strange delivery is almost alien). I can at least say that Carrie and Walter are without a doubt the best actors in this film, but even their delivery falls flat due to the material and writing. Everyone else is just bland, forgettable, dull, and at times laughably bad, despite the writing trying to get you to think that there's serious bonds and rivalries happening.
And without a doubt, JaxPro is the strangest addition in this movie. This is not a dig at the actor as his performance isn't bad, but the writing and direction is just so strange. I'm guessing it was supposed to play off the current YouTube influencer attitude, but it makes for a very lackluster villain. There's nothing intimidating or scary about him and we're pretty much given everything about him at the beginning of the movie. Compare this to the game master of Squid Game, who was shrouded in mystery throughout the show and who's actions were truly unpredictable, with an intimidating voice to boot. Yes there's a lot of Squid Game comparisons, but it's going to happen, it's literally copying it.
And speaking of which, let's talk about the games, the main draw of these shows outside of the drama. The movie follows the same format with each of the games being based of children's games, but with none of the flair. Where Squid Game had elaborate death traps that got worse and worse as time went on, constantly making you guess what would be next and how gruesome the kills would be, the bare minimum was done here: LED hopscotch in a dark room, Chairs in the middle of a room for musical chairs, woods, and at one point, A LITERAL RENTAL BOUNCE HOUSE. Top that with some AWFUL transition texts for each game and it feels amateur. And whereas Squid Game had brutal deaths unique to each of its games, the majority of deaths involve a fox furry...no, you did not read that wrong. Throughout the movie, aside the guards (again ripped from the show except they have airsoft masks instead of the iconic shapes), most of the contestants are killed off by a psychotic furry in a costume so poor it's laughable. He carries out most of the kills and they usually play out the same with ridiculous and poorly done choreography. What's even worse is when his mask is removed, the character is the perfect amount of psychotic and over the top that it makes the inclusion of the outfit even more insulting.
As mentioned before, there's attempts at friendships rivalries and betrayals, but the writing is so poor and underdeveloped that it falls flat on its face trying to get people to care for the characters, and some dialogue choices felt like they were pulled from memes nearly 5 years ago despite this being a 2022 movie. You can also predict who will live and who will die since some of the poorly imitated relationships end up having similar results to that of Squid Game...and the ending to the film feels both predictable and like it was all for nothing, completely missing the point of why Squid Games' bleak ending, while not perfect, still somewhat worked.
I won't lie, at first, I thought it was comical that this existed. It was clearly a ripoff capitalizing off of a great product while fundamentally misunderstanding what made it great to begin with. I had a few laughs and jokes, but as the run time went on and the realization that I was not finished with the movie sat in, that humor turned to apathy. By the end of it, the text "JaxPo will return" only filled me with anger because it did nothing notable to even dare trying to warrant a sequel. But then again, maybe they'll wait till Squid Games season 2 to completely butcher that concept as well.
There's nothing good about this film. It's a cheap, soulless ripoff that was only entertaining for how laughably bad it is, but it gets old after 5 minutes...and youve got another 85 to go...and you feel every minute of it. Don't waste your time with this film. Run away from it. You won't be entertained, only annoyed. You won't feel joy, only apathy.
And to the creators of this film...stick to original products and stories in the future. I can't say they'd be great, but you'll at least have a leg to stand on in terms of originality.
