2018 Film Review: Upgrade (2018)

Directed by: Leigh Whannell
Written by: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Logan Marshall-Green, Simon Maiden, Betty Gabriel
IMDb Link

None of the ideas in Upgrade are particularly new, but it puts a somewhat original spin on them with its approach, and does so alongside some savage and superbly shot action sequences.

Grey (Marshall-Green, giving an overall very good performance helped by his slavish attention to robotic motion) is a technophobe mechanic in a surveillance state run by electronics whose life is ruined when an accident and subsequent attack leave his wife dead and him paralysed from below the neck. Grey is approached by the head of a tech company to be implanted with STEM, an artificial intelligence that can move for him, and after the procedure seeks out the men who murdered his wife. It's a fairly straightforward revenge plot set inside a darkly twisted techno-dystopia, one that shows cynical limitations of total surveillance and playfully toys with fears about A.I., the future, and the nature of control versus freedom and the impact technology can have. Most of the beats in the story are completely expected, but get by on execution; if the film isn't planting the seeds for the darker ideas it suggests with its world, it's taking the required action sequences and turning them masterfully.

Seriously, the action sequences in this film are great, moving and rotating the camera with Grey/STEM's own movement but maintaining a steady hand so that it never gets disorienting. The camera moves and jolts and rolls with every punch thrown and every tumble taken, and not a single beat is dropped as the film dashes from point to point with a skill and energy that outstrips the general by-the-numbers plot; every expected scene transcends expectations largely because of how well directed it is. 

One another important factor that's done well here is the interplay between Grey and STEM. The two have a hilariously dark back and forth fueled by the grim nature of their relationship and the extent of STEM's capabilities, and it adds to both the themes and the plot of the film. It's symbiotic, and we see despite all that it can do exactly what STEM's limitations are, and it makes for small but significant alterations to the implications of the plot as it progresses; the film plays to and then ever so lightly twists tried and true concepts about the nature of A.I. as it's represented in science fiction, and while it's not enough to feel like an entirely satisfying exploration of the change-up, it's still a welcome attempt.   

The Short Version: Upgrade is as inventive as it is formulaic, putting effective and intriguing twists on familiar themes and ideas that combine with creatively shot action and a streak of dry humour to make for a brutally memorable experience.

Rating: 7/10

Published June 17th, 2018