Upgrade (2018)
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Upgrade Movie Review
Upgrade is a 2018 science fiction action film directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Logan Marshall-Green. It’s a bombastic, yet very good, hugely entertaining, nifty little film.
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“Stem, he’s got a knife!“
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Upgrade tells the story of a man who, after the car crash leaves him paralyzed, gets a chip implanted which lets him walk again, but develops a mind of its own and will stop at nothing to punish those who murdered his wife. It’s a strong premise and although I’ve seen some of its aspects before in many films, the overall film is an original mix of ideas that really worked in the end.
The ending is solid, albeit not great. The beginning is excellent though. And although some of the second half scenes felt overly action-oriented, the first half is particularly strong, very entertaining and very well executed in both action and storyline. The film maybe needed more sophistication and more themes of technology, but it doesn’t fully need them as it portrays the technology of the early future so well, somewhat realistically and in a very urgent, intriguing and dark manner.
The major problem the film has is the lack of stronger characterization. I really liked the villains and they were effective, but thoroughly underutilized. As for the protagonist, he is fine, but definitely far from a great or really well developed character. It’s a shame that the movie did not deal with its characters more, but when you have an action film, the characterization and more calmer moments almost always suffer as a result.
Logan Marshall-Green is definitely terrific though. It’s ridiculous how he does not have a bigger career owing to his obviously good looks, strong charisma and solid acting talent, but I guess Hollywood doesn’t need another Tom Hardy when they have one already. Yes, the physical resemblance between these two actors is simply uncanny.
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Upgrade features terrific, mostly phenomenally executed action sequences. Some of them certainly bordered on the superheroics, but still they were effective at generating strong thrills and the cinematography is particularly strong. The same goes for the score, the overall cool aesthetic to the movie and the solid direction from Leigh Whannell. Upgrade isn’t a horror film at all, but it is a fine science fiction action film that is so deftly edited and well made across the board that it’s one of the better indie flicks of the year.
Upgrade lacks stronger characterization and it’s at times bombastic with some action bordering on superheroics a bit too much, but most of the action sequences are still thrilling and so well executed, Logan Marshall-Green is very good in the main role, the story is very engaging and somewhat original plus the film is very well edited leading to a very nifty, effective sci-fi action flick.
