[movie] Upgrade
Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 12:58 pm
I've turned into a fan of Logan Marshall-Green after seeing him first in The Invitation (a seriously great little indie thriller/horror film) and then in shows like Quarry and Damnation. So when I saw he had a new film, a low budget sci fi thriller called Upgrade, coming out, I put it on my to do list. The trailer, while fun to watch, doesn't really do the film justice.
Yesterday I squeezed some more life out of my Moviepass membership (I treat it as if it's going to disappear any day now) and caught a late matinee after work.
In summary, Logan plays a grease monkey named Grey in a future society that is rapidly losing all desire for analog lives. We quickly get to the meat of the film after his wife is killed by some thugs and he's paralyzed while trying to stop them.
He soon gets an offer from a brilliant but eccentric former customer of his car restoration biz. He can restore his ability to move, as long as he agrees to become the guinea pig for a new computer implant named STEM (I can't remember if it's an acronym or not). He eventually agrees and then quickly finds out that STEM is intelligent...and very helpful in his quest for revenge.
In most films like this, the movie would simply be the 2,305 retelling of Death Wish. But the director and writer Leigh Whannell takes the premise of revenge film and turns it on its head at times, as not only are we an audience to what's going on, but so is Grey eventually as the film slowly goes from revenge film to sci fi horror film.
I won't ruin it by revealing the plot twist(s). But they're pretty easy to spot early on. And the film has more than its share of plot holes (including one that in hindsight seems really stupid). However, the film is B movie fun at its finest. It's funny at times, it has great fight scenes, and the whole production just seems big...even though it's a pretty small budget film. Honestly, it reminded me of the last Judge Dredd film. Thin on plot at times, but really fun to watch.
It currently has an 86 percent rating on RT, so critics appear to be enjoying it. "Grindhouse fun" seems to be the most mentioned review item (it's pretty gory in places). I give it two thumbs up.
Yesterday I squeezed some more life out of my Moviepass membership (I treat it as if it's going to disappear any day now) and caught a late matinee after work.
In summary, Logan plays a grease monkey named Grey in a future society that is rapidly losing all desire for analog lives. We quickly get to the meat of the film after his wife is killed by some thugs and he's paralyzed while trying to stop them.
He soon gets an offer from a brilliant but eccentric former customer of his car restoration biz. He can restore his ability to move, as long as he agrees to become the guinea pig for a new computer implant named STEM (I can't remember if it's an acronym or not). He eventually agrees and then quickly finds out that STEM is intelligent...and very helpful in his quest for revenge.
In most films like this, the movie would simply be the 2,305 retelling of Death Wish. But the director and writer Leigh Whannell takes the premise of revenge film and turns it on its head at times, as not only are we an audience to what's going on, but so is Grey eventually as the film slowly goes from revenge film to sci fi horror film.
I won't ruin it by revealing the plot twist(s). But they're pretty easy to spot early on. And the film has more than its share of plot holes (including one that in hindsight seems really stupid). However, the film is B movie fun at its finest. It's funny at times, it has great fight scenes, and the whole production just seems big...even though it's a pretty small budget film. Honestly, it reminded me of the last Judge Dredd film. Thin on plot at times, but really fun to watch.
It currently has an 86 percent rating on RT, so critics appear to be enjoying it. "Grindhouse fun" seems to be the most mentioned review item (it's pretty gory in places). I give it two thumbs up.
