#menn

1. Wu Minghan vs Menn

[Left: Wu Minghan (MMDB); Right: Menn (TRE)]

The biggest differences between the two versions are most present with the two takes on our initially homophobic protagonist.

Wu Minghan is a detective in Gia-Gun police district who is openly homophobic and violent towards suspects when he pins and ties up a gay man at a gym in order to search his bag for drugs without a warrant. (Depending on the subtitles he initially either refers to gay characters as “gay guy” or the f slur and I’m not sure which is the more accurate translation). He is also misogynistic and chauvinistic to his coworker Lin Tzu-Ching - a beautiful face for the police district’s promotional material but who is otherwise sidelined and assigned menial tasks - and fat phobic to his other coworker.

While chasing a drug suspect, Lin Tzu-Ching gets the collar while he has to pick up the evidence the man threw out of his car window. This is when he accidentally picks up the envelope initially mistaking it as evidence. He has a horrified reaction to the idea of marrying not only a ghost but a man but rapidly starts experiencing near fatal bad luck so complies with the marriage request.

By contrast, in the Thai version, Menn is a petty thief and police informer who wants to become a real police officer by proving himself to the Chief. His over enthusiasm in apprehending a suspect and his previous mistakes leads to him to being pushed out of the precinct. He is less openly homophobic than Wu Minghan (using ‘sissy’ instead) and rather than being directly misogynistic, openly admires Goi (Tzu-Ching’s counterpart) dreaming of being her police partner. I don’t think he’s ever fat phobic to Goi’s partner either.

While grumbling, he accidentally knocks down a fruit cart and has to help clean it up. He spots the red envelope while cleaning and thinks it is abandoned New Years money which he eagerly goes to steal. He is also horrified at the idea of marrying a dead man (though his reaction is slightly less extreme) and after experiencing near fatal bad luck also agrees to go through with the marriage.

The introductions to these characters before they meet their ghost husbands clearly show the differences between the two.

Wu Minghan is more immediately dislikable exhibiting prejudice and police violence. He is a rising star in the precinct but his bigotry is shown as what’s holding him back as it’s seen as immature and backwards by his coworkers and boss. He is reckless in his car chase but otherwise seems to be on the up. The bad luck he experiences as a result of refusing the ghost marriage is clearly a first for him and terrifies him.

By contrast, Menn is more pathetic and presented as being more immediately sympathetic. He’s already down on his luck before he refuses the marriage so some of what he’s experiencing doesn’t even seem like something he wouldn’t have experienced anyway because of his poor luck.

Because of this immediate difference, Wu Minghan ultimately has the bigger character arc in his movie. I also found his chemistry with his ghost husband better and also Greg Hsu is absolutely hysterical in this role.

I don’t want to sound rude, but I didn’t really buy Menn as a character and that was mostly down to his actor. Writing wise, he seemed less real than Wu Minghan and he gets less of an interesting arc because he starts out at a less extreme beginning point to his end point. Performance wise, I don’t think his actor did the best job? Even when not being compared to Greg Hsu, there were several moments it looked like he was trying not to laugh even when the scene was more serious.

Point: MMDB

2. Mao Pangyu vs Titi

[Left: Mao Pangyu (MMDB), Right: Titi (TRE)]

Our fabulous ghost husbands. Both Mao Pangyu and Titi died young after being hit by a car and neither were keen on the idea of marrying their still living husband.

However Mao Pangyu is the better character. With this, there’s no real debate.

In ‘Marry my Dead Body’, Mao Pangyu was presented as having goals outside of being LGBTQ+ as being an ardent environmentalist who wanted to make a positive change in the world. His first Dying Wish is for Wu Minghan to donate to green projects and pick up trash on the beach. He even hilariously lets his ‘horror-face’ out when Wu Minghan uses a disposable plastic straw.

By contrast, Titi is presented as a fashion major instead of a Building and Planning student. His first wish is for Menn to clean up his house which feels a lot less interesting.

Mao Pangyu’s environmentalism serves as a plot point when Wu Minghan starts using reusable tumblers and his father uses reusable cutleries in a really touching moment in the movie.

It adds to the tragedy of his death since he comes across as someone who would have been a real force for good in the world before his life was cut unexpectedly short.

While Titi also died young, we don’t learn that much about him outside of him liking fashion and his love life.

Then there’s the detail about possession. In both movies, the ghosts possess their living husbands and parade them about naked in the streets after they insult them repeatedly. This is later revealed to be something that takes a huge toll on a ghost as it risks their soul disintegrating and being unable to reincarnate.

In ‘MMDB’, Wu Minghan has to light incense to allow Mao Pangyu to recover. During the final fight, Mao Pangyu possesses multiple people to the point of beginning to disintegrate to save Wu Minghan’s life. This is a plot point in ‘TRE’ but then the movie undermines it in the ‘Gay Bar Scene’. Titi possesses Menn again to perform a dance number in a dance battle with zero consequences and Menn doesn’t have to light incense to help him recover at any moment in the movie which cuts out a particularly crushing moment in the hospital scene when a critically injured Wu Minghan can’t get out of bed to find some to try and save Mao Pangyu.

Point: MMDB

3. Tone

Although both versions are a comedy, the Thai version dials it up to 11 and not always in a good way. Most of the jokes are the same but the Thai version adds even more outlandish things (such as the aforementioned dance battle).

This doesn’t always work in the movie’s favour as ‘MMDB’ was able to have both funny and serious moments together. The serious moments don’t really land as well in ‘TRE’ and Titi’s father isn’t the one to ask about solving his son’s murder. Given fixing the ghost’s relationship with his father is the key to allowing both of them to reincarnate, this feels like an oversight in ‘TRE’ which chooses to spend more time on the comedic side of things.

Also, maybe I just don’t really get Thai humour (or this movie just wasn’t very funny anyway), but I found their version of some of the jokes not as funny as the Taiwanese one. They also cut out one of my favorite jokes which is when Lin Tzu-Ching describes the exact time, date and location of her mother’s overdose to the drug dealer in minute detail and he still has to ask her to be more specific.

Point: MMDB

4. The Plot Twist

[Left: Lin Tzu-Ching (MMDB), Right: Goi (TRE)]

Speaking of Lin Tzu-Ching, her reveal as working with the drug dealer is far better set up than Goi in ‘TRE’. For one, since Menn isn’t a police officer, he doesn’t spend as much time in the department and so there’s never a chance for him to really hear the theories that there’s a mole in the police department.

Lin Tzu-Ching’s whole introduction scene is immediate foreshadowing. We see her first as the perfect poster-girl of the police on all of their brochures and adverts before she walks in and is nothing like that. She isn’t what she initially seems. This is called out by Mao Pangyu immediately who also says there’s more to her than meets the eye since Wu Minghan wants to be the heroic guy protecting the girl which Lin Tzu-Ching doesn’t need.

The double twist that Lin Tzu-Ching is working for herself to steal the drug dealer’s money (and gets off Scott free at the end) isn’t in Goi’s case for ‘TRE’. Goi is just an ordinary detective, no hidden faces foreshadowing, who also experienced misogyny at work but Menn doesn’t have any growth in this. (Wu Minghan goes from snapping about how Lin Tzu-Ching has it easy with menstrual leave to wanting to confront his colleagues he overhears them speaking about how she probably slept her way to the top. Menn also wants to confront the police for saying this, but he was never that misogynistic or chauvinistic before this scene so it doesn’t really show any growth on his part.)

Goi is just taking money for working for the drug dealers and that’s it. Lin Tzu-Ching is badass, conniving and way better set up as someone to be watching out for.

Point: MMDB

5. The Little Details

I think it’s safe to say that by this point that, in my opinion, ‘Marry my Dead Body’ sweeps every category.

So here I thought I’d point out the little details that separate the two with the understanding that I think the choices MMDB made were better.

Mao Pangyu tried to not marry Wu Minghan. As part of the Taiwanese ghost marriage, Wu Minghan had to toss fortune half-moons (?) to get Mao Pangyu’s approval. Mao Pangyu tried to say “no” but his father’s interruption caused the sticks to land on “yes”. In the Thai version, there’s no such request for Titi’s approval.

Mao Pangyu’s boyfriend cheated on him but that plotline was separate from the drug one. In TRE, Titi’s ex’s new boyfriend is connected to the drug case.

Wu Minghan spends more time with Mao Pangyu’s family (especially the dad) which sets up him still spending time with them at the end

Wu Minghan progresses in lots of different ways throughout the movie to show his growth (I.e. being a far more positive person when he thinks that Mao Pangyu has reincarnated)

The ambulance scene. Maybe it’s the Netflix subtitles, but in MMDB, Wu Minghan says “my husband” when asked who he is talking to as he’s dying. It’s a really heart clenching moment. In TRE, Menn says “my wife” which doesn’t hit as hard.

In Conclusion, if you’re going to watch this story, the Taiwanese version is the way to go. I wondered if the Thai version would change things to make its two leads a couple but it doesn’t. I think Wu Minghan and Mao Pangyu are the better characters and the plot just lines up better with how the Taiwanese OG played it out.

Both are fun movies though.

‘The Red Envelope’ = 6/10

‘Marry my Dead Body’ = 9/10