Review: Upgrade

Directed by: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, and Harrison Gilbertson

The plot follows a man who is implanted with a chip that allows him to control his body after a mugging leaves him paralyzed.

Another film I finally watched is Blumhouse's Upgrade recently, and I have to say it was suprisingly really good.

Honestly never gave so much thought to this film when it came out months ago. The idea felt overused, with a revenge plot set in a cyberpunk universe. However, this film proved me wrong, and it was executed near perfectly, just with a few flaws.

The acting was great and not overdone. The plot, while it did have some holes, was clever and innovative. there was little to barely any character development to the other characters besides the main character, which made me not care as much for them. The pacing was smooth and the humor was funny. The film does really well to convey the message on the misuse and the overuse of technology as it becomes more reliant in the present and near future.

The visuals were really good. The cinematography was great, the camerawork used for the fight/action scenes were incredible and impressive. The production design was incredible, I really love the cyberpunk genre and this film's setting reminded me of why I love it. The film was surprisingly gory as well, so if you are squeamish, I don't really recommend watching this. The music is hypnotic and fits the tone and atmosphere of the film, just only wished it was used more to make more of an impact. This film really does remind me of Alex Garland's Ex Machina with the discussion of how complex artificial intelligence is and can be.

A strange thing seeing is how Blumhouse produced this film. Blumhouse usually produces horror films, and this film isn't really much of a horror film. It was until after I finished this movie, that i realized that the horror element in the film, is the element of technology and artificial intelligence (Once you see the film, you'll understand).

In conclusion, it's definitely one of the more original films of the year, and it's pretty fun to watch. A gory sci-fi grind-house that's definitely worth checking out. Now that this review is basically done, I'm now going to ask Alexa to remind me to stop being such a lazy useless human.

My rating: 8.0/10

#FilmReview #2018