By: JWBM
What is misery? Some might say that it is an intense, nearly hopeless state that pushes human bounds beyond just sadness. Another might give a more close to home definition of being involved in an accident where you become cripple and also senselessly lose your wife to a gang of thugs. You spent your whole life trusting your hands and working with mechanical parts. Now, you must embrace a futuristic world that is becoming more and more dependent on computers and solid state technology. Though, the bigger question is, is some added convenience worth the unforeseen complexities that go along with advancement? Not just minor attributes when dealing with computer intelligence, such as human laziness, or expense, but a moral dilemma when it does our dirty work?
What is a miracle? Some might say that it is an event or action inexplicably resolved by some higher power. Another might say that a miracle doesn't exist. In this case, they may be right. Grey Trace went from not being able to move anything but his his head, eyes, and lips, to being given the chance to become part of an experimental procedure that gives him not only full function back to his limbs, but also new and potentially deadly abilities. In light of his recent incident involving a gang of outlaws, one might question anything positive coming from it. Seeing both circumstances come together, you can just smell a forecast of revenge and blood in the air.
"Upgrade" guides you by the hand, replaces it with a cybernetic one, and then uses it to manipulate and destroy people in highly creative fashion. Once released from its cage, the film is nearly a constant, adrenaline-packed rush. It's an incredibly fun experience that mixes a blend of its own brand of science fiction where humans go dark with upgrades, and good ol' fashioned action scenes to make the blood pump and the circuits re-connect your senses. Being directed by an original actor and writer of the "Saw" series—Leigh Whannell—this is on par with the violence of a horror movie. Not quite as over-the-top as "Tokyo Gore Police," though it's guaranteed to make the regular cinema goer flinch. The uncut version of "Robocop" might have a new rival in town, where knives carve deeper and uglier than a rush job on a Halloween pumpkin, and heads explode like a well-developed kid going to town on a pinata that represents everything wrong with his childhood.
In order to keep the narrative steadily going, some aspects are convenient, such as an advanced world where the cops are never there at the right time, with criminals and technology instead running rampant. They created some inventive aspects of the future, but didn't overstep themselves and make it over-complicated either. It feels like a kinetic, flowing film from start to finish. It's a basic revenge story, mixed with swirling, more complex questions of where technology could be headed. Super soldiers and electronic implants might be beyond belief, though this dark and visceral experience never lets you think otherwise.
Rating: 8.5/10
Director: Leigh Whannell
Actors: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Betty Gabriel
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube trailer
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