Slyth: The Hunt Saga

Needless to say that I hadn't heard about this 2023 Thai sci-fi movie titled "Slyth: The Hunt Saga" prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2024. And with it being an Asian movie, of course I opted to sit down and give the movie a chance. Sure, I didn't have the slightest of ideas of what I was in for here.

The storyline in "Slyth: The Hunt Saga", as written by Panjapong Kongkanoy, Nattapot Potchumnean and Tientan Petcharoen, turned out to be a storyline that felt rather random. Sure, there was an overall plot throughout the course of the movie, but so many of the scenes felt like random fillers, which didn't really do much to further the narrative. And that made sitting through "Slyth: The Hunt Saga" somewhat of a pointless experience.

I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. Though there wasn't anything outstanding, I will say that the acting performances were fair enough, taking into consideration the contents of the script that they had to work with.

There was a nice feel of a pseudo-cyberpunk feel to the movie. Though many of the items were just modified items that you could buy from Wish, Temu, AliExpress and the like. But hey, points for putting in an effort. And it actually did work out well enough.

I have to say that I found little enjoyment and entertaining in the narrative, and directors Panjapong Kongkanoy and Supawit Suwannet failed to win me over with this 2023 sci-fi action movie. Would I recommend this movie to fans of the Asian or Thai cinema? No, not really. It is a movie that felt rather bland and pointless.

My rating of "Slyth: The Hunt Saga" lands on a very generous three out of ten stars.

Despite the "Wasted Potential" that I have seen, my take on this movie is that I have seen far worst movies rated 6 and above than this particular one.

True, the story is rather naive but the movie was alert and the visual effects were more than just OK.

The game theme was cleverly embedded into the movie and the young actors have been hand picked to create a western world kind of ambiance (despite the fact that this is a Thai movie).

Overall, it was a commendable effort and implementation fully deserving a rating of 6.

The rating of 2 that was awarded by the "Wasted Potential" review writer is just mean ;)

The inspiration for the setting is what made me interested in watching the movie as it is about an extra-terrestrial alien reptilian race based on ancient Sumerian lore about the Anunnaki. This conspiracy theory might actually be true in the real world since there is a lot of evidence in ancient myths and temples all around the world especially in South India, Thailand, Mexico, Egypt etc.

However this movie is wasted potential and a hot pile of trash. They did not go deeper into the Anunnaki/Slyth's lore and explore the struggles of humans more and how it molds the characters. They went over it briefly for a minute and forgot it.

There was not enough world-building and they were more focused on the useless rushed love-story and cringe VR game scenes that was boring zombie shooter gameplay. As viewers we want to be more immersed into the environment. We need more world-building, a deeper look into the character's life and their struggles. The movie wasted a lot of time.

The characters were written poorly and the story was rushed full of clichés. I did not care about a single character, if a character died I would not even feel a thing.

The environment CG was great and the acting was decent at times, however the writing was very disappointing and the pacing was horrible. I could see they tried to make some of the characters a little relatable but none of their struggles were real or powerful.

The monster 3D sculpts were good, however the animation movements felt off. The movie made me cringe multiple times and I just felt embarrassed for the creators.

I could see inspirations from many movies. Especially Ender's Game and how the characters were fooled into thinking they were in a simulation. However, this idea of a plot twist was wasted and there was no impact behind it. The villain simple wanted to wage war with the Slyths and the protagonists were pawns in his game. It felt very lackluster and boring. Again, I did not feel a real struggle or mission, everything was rushed.

They should have gotten more inspiration from movies of similar plots/settings like "John Carpenter's They Live 1988". That movie explored how the reptilian alien race was brainwashing humans into consumerism and their evil agendas which truly reflects today's society.

The writers should have focused more on the dystopian environment and create meaningful bonds or character development through the struggles. I don't mind a little love story at all, however it felt extremely unnatural and forced which is a very common trope in Thai soap operas as well.

Using mystery as a tool could have been very powerful for the movie. Slowly unleashing mindblowing revelations or truths about the Slyths could really help like in Attack on Titan.

It starts off with a promising premise a sort of Dr Who smog episode rip off with traditional car crash involving a small child or adult with issues type of thing.

It rips off Tron, Ready player one, Scooby Doo, Cyborg, Power Rangers and many others.

It fails to deliver on any of these rip offs and has a storyline written by either :

A) a drama student Or B) a failed drama student consumed with bitter jealousy

C) The special effects are quite good but the acting is dreadful and the writing is interestingly bad.

I liked it up to the point where it became children's TV.

This had so much potential and it literally dissolved before our eyes.

This is not a bad movie at all. Once you suspend your disbelief and come to terms with the CGI, it was actually done really well. The characters have redeeming qualities, the plot is good, the action is great.....if you are just looking for an entertaining movie, this was pretty good.

I am not so worried into the backstory of the Slyth or anything like that, I just wanted action. And.....there is some plot twists in this that were pretty good too.

If you want to watch a movie that is entertaining, this is definitely that. Dont expect a cinematic marvel and I dont want to say its generic. Its just good entertainment if you are in the mood for it.

If you are in the mood to criticize something, I am sure you will find plenty. If you want to enjoy it, you will.

I gave it an 8 to bump its score. Its rating is not fair to the quality of the movie.