Upgrade Review

Blumhouse Productions have given the world Oscar winning movies such as Whiplash (2014) and Get Out (2017) whilst their claim to fame is providing an endless stream of horror movies. Entirely produced on a low budget they have brought movies such as Paranormal Activity (2009) and Insidious (2011) produced on an insanely minimum budget below $3 million. Dipping their toe in to the sci-fi genre with The Belko Experiment (2017) and the dystopian future with The Purge (2013), Blumhouse have taken one step further in to the market with their latest feature Upgrade.

Upgrade comes from the mind of Leigh Whannell, who is best known for writing and directing alongside James Wan in the Insidious franchise, as well as penning the first three Saw instalments. Taking Whannell from his comfort zone of gore and ghosts, Upgrade is a sci-fi thriller that resembles a budget version of Blade Runner (1982) or a bloodier version of Terminator (1984). A coherent story takes a backseat for the borrowing styles of a B-movie filled with thrills and kills.

Artificial intelligence and human-machine hybrids are the new normal, but as the world walk around with these technological enhancements, Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) is the rare exception. He’s a grease monkey that views the innovations that surround his dystopian future with intense suspicion. As a Luddite he spends his days restoring classic muscle cars for wealthy clients such as Eron (Harrison Gilbertson), a younger, more socially awkward Elon Musk with bleach blonde hair. After a tragic incident involving Grey and his wife Asha (Malanie Vallejo), he’s left paralysed from the neck down as he mourns the loss of his wife. With both his former life gone and living in frustration, Grey is ready to give up the ghost until Eron offers him a second chance at life. Using his latest creation, a microchip called STEM (voiced by Simon Maiden), he promises to restore Grey’s body back to 100% functionality. With his health restored, Grey begins to track down the murders of his wife which leads to him discovering the impressive abilities of STEM, albeit mischievous and murderous.

Doing much of the heavy lifting, the brooding protagonist Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus) is electric watch. Although looking remarkably similar, he proves he’s not a poor mans Tom Hardy. He sells the pathos and frustration of the struggle he has over his body creating some surprisingly heartfelt scenes. It’s an interesting technical performance physically as he conveys the robotic movements through his body whilst he emotes and observes freely with his head. Watching his face react one way whilst body contorts and does the opposite is a tour-de-force of acting leaving you completely in awe. On the contrary the supporting cast fail to bring anything noteworthy to the table. Betty Gabriel (Get Out) plays the detective on Asha’s murder case but lacks development. As a well established actress she is severely underused and wasted as the cliched untrusting officer always several steps behind. Harrison Gilbertson (from the Amazon series Picnic At Hanging Rock) is the socially awkward billionaire genius and creator of STEM. Although having the skeletal frame of a 12 year old and hair resembling an anime character, the heart of his character is essentially the soul of Colin Clive in Frankenstein (1931) however it was inconsistently portrayed. The weasel looking Benedict Hardie from Hacksaw Ridge (2016) does a decent job playing the moustache twirling main adversary Fisk. However, the under-utilised depth and backstory explored results in his character lacking any intimidation and lacklustre as a threatening villain. However, luckily for Upgrade you’re drawn into the tech noir work and John Wick (2014) style action that the supporting characters can be ignored for the most part.

Leigh Whannell has proved with his previous movies that he more than capable of creating an entertaining piece of cinema with a low budget and he flexes his creativity with Upgrade. The futuristic, dark sci-fi setting helps create the tone of the narrative and it resembles the kind of movie John Carpenter would of created in the 1970’s whilst making Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). The budget is nowhere near that of Blade Runner 2049 (2017) however, it certainly finds its place in the same universe. The futuristic set pieces and special effects never feel cheesy or out of place and Whannell’s vision of the future looks multiple times more expensive than what it is. There’s nothing revolutionary about constructing set designs that are of a believable dystopian utopia, however, the production design of Felicity Abbott is understated and striking. The neon drenched cinematography uses the stylised saturation of colour to create something similar to Argento against the grimy setting and its the contrast of these elements that totally engulf the viewer in the aesthetics. Amongst the cinematography come some impressive special effects, along with the Cronenberg-like hand guns implemented in the villains, there’s a thrilling highway car chase that looks like it came from a movie with 10 times the budget. Whannell has successfully stretched the financing of Upgrade to it’s limits, never once making the human vs computer setting look cheap.

Amongst the social commentary of performing enhancing technologies and fears of machines learning, the story is rather simplistic and is nothing we haven’t seen before. It’s the familiar revenge tale of a man searching for his wife’s murderers whilst combining plot elements from movies such as Death Wish (1974) and Robocop (1987) not to mention a myriad of other movies. However, it’s the humour and stylistic flair where the concept takes off. As Grey becomes accustomed sharing a body with STEM, Upgrade has hints of a perverse crime busting, buddy cop comedy. STEM’s interactions are in the formal manner as HAL9000’s voice in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Grey’s range of facial expression and one liners are comically timed perfectly whilst reacting to STEM. As bones shatter and blood splatters there’s a gentle juxtapose between the shock factor and wit from the two characters. It’s the movies spectacle of fight sequences however that really are the highlight and Whannell certainly has an eye for dynamic Wachowski style influenced action. Most of the credit must go to the fight choreographer Chris Weir and Marshall-Green himself, but the action beats are kinetic and ingenious. Particularly the clever technique of moving the camera in sync with the hero as he quickly moves through the fight sequences, mimicking his stiff movements with robotic efficiency like a robotic Jackie Chan. The sequences can become a little disorientating as the camerawork isolates Marshall-Green in the frame while the world shudders and twists around him, but I think it’s Whannell’s intention as a filmmaker to create a distinction between Grey as a human and Grey as half supercomputer in these scenes and it’s clearly noticeable between the two.

SUMMARY

Hidden behind the neon lights and holographic images is a weak script and paper thin characters. The thematic line of “man vs technology” could of been explored deeper but is abandoned halfway through as the horror flushed, revenge thriller elements take over. Although the journey through Upgrade is an entertaining B-movie experience, the final destination is bleak. Flourishing with an interesting concept and influences from a wide range of movies, Upgrade could well be Whannell’s calling card transitioning from a screenwriter to a director. If he can accomplish this much with Blumhouse’s infamous low budget business model, imagine what he could do with major studio money behind him.

7/10


Originally published at davincislovechild.wordpress.com on August 31, 2018.

Jonathan 'Jono' Simpson

Written by

Lover of film, music, design & all things pop culture. Bachelors degree in film & journalism. Crohn’s Disease warrior & freelance writer Twitter:@the_jono_brand

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