‘A fake world is a lot less painful than the real one…’
I like Leigh Whannell. I like his face. I enjoyed his turn as Adam in the first Saw movie (a film that Whannell also co-wrote) and I can even tolerate the comic relief he provides as Specs in the Insidious franchise (also written and/or directed by Whannell). In short, as well being a likeable guy, Leigh Whannell knows horror. He is at the centre of arguably the two most prominent horror franchises of the last decade. So when Whannell pops up with the only film he has ever written and directed that is not directly involved with either of those two franchises, I sit up and take notice. Well I don’t actually sit up, I kind of glance skyward over the rim of my bowl of Coco Pops before settling back into my long suffering chair like a human Jabba the Hutt…
Let me keep this synopsis brief. Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) is a self-confessed technophobe who finds himself on a revenge rampage following a personal tragedy. Oh and the film is set in a near future where the world is even more obsessed with, and controlled by, technology than it is now. That part is quite important.
If that all sounds familiar that’s because it is. There isn’t a shred of originality in Whannell’s story and while that would normally be a criticism, it isn’t here, simply because the rookie director stitches together a beautiful tapestry by taking patches from many different sci-fi films and tropes. A dash of Terminator here, a dollop of The Matrix there. Upgrade plays on every anxiety we have ever had about the unstoppable rise of the machines and by doing so, Whannell creates a film that is as compelling as it is familiar.
One thing that Upgrade isn’t however, is a horror film. It is dark sure, and it features moments of horrific violence, but it is actually closer in tone to the classic action movies of ’80s than anything else in the Blumhouse roster. Again, this is not a criticism however, merely an acknowledgement that Leigh Whannell is capable of so much more than horror house scares.
Upgrade is one of the most purely entertaining films I have seen in 2018. And isn’t that why we all watch these damn things in the first place? Go and see it.