Welcome one and all to the 3rd part of my new blog feature, The 52 In 52. The premise is simple I have an abundance of Blu Ray and DVDs a lot of which have sat on the shelf and not been watched. Last week in part 2 I watched and reviewed When The Lights Went Out. For all of the previous posts of The 52 In 52 and more go to my Homepage. As always if you have any comments or feedback you can leave one in the section below or by following me on Twitter and Instagram.
This week I am cheating a little bit and talking about a reasonably new film, 2018's Upgrade. I did this because I was desperate to write about how much I loved this film. Upgrade was released through Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Tilt in 2018 and was written and directed by Leigh Whannell (SAW, Insidious).
In the not so distant future Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) is a mechanic who is resistant to the speed in which technology is taking over. Grey and wife Asha are brutally assaulted and as a result Asha dies and Grey is paralysed. Grey is approached by the mysterious Eron, who has developed an implant, STEM, that would allow the patient full use of his body. Grey, intent on solving his wife's murder, gets more than he bargains for after STEM is implanted into his body. Detective Cortez (Betty Gabriel) suspects some foul play as people involved in Asha's murder start dying.
As I mentioned I loved Upgrade a lot. From the very beginning of the film there is an aesthetic of 80's/90's science fiction. There is a lot of overly futuristic cars and a lot of clean architecture that smacks of "Hey Look It's The Future" which I really love. The presence of drones and CCTV throughout brought a big brother/1984 feel that was reminiscent of RoboCop and District 9. The camera work throughout is dizzying in parts especially in the section between the attack and Grey waking up in hospital. There are some brilliant visuals especially during the surgery scenes where there is a mix of close up body horror and science fiction computerised representations. There is a lot of gore that fits really well without being over the top.
There is a lot of substance to the overall story that really shines through all of the visuals. Logan Marshall Green is outstanding as Grey. He goes from grief to resolution extremely well without being over the top or over acted. His movement work during the initial scenes with STEM are brilliant, being machine like without being over the top. Betty Gabriel continues on in her 3rd Blumhouse film and I was a little disappointed there wasn't more of her. Her role was important and her rapport with Marshall-Green was great I just felt that her role in the outcome of the film was a little underwhelming. The story and script was a great balance of action and horror with Whannell's dark humour coming through at the right times, especially in Grey's interactions with STEM. There are obvious comparisons to 2001:A Space Odyssey and HAL with regards to STEM and his increasing homicidal tendencies but, I felt that played well with the story rather than it being a revenge story it was more a morality tale and a commentary on our reliance on technology.
Overall I adored Upgrade and I think it will be hard to find a film as good this year. Equal parts RoboCop and Deathwish with a little 2001: A Space Odyssey thrown in, Upgrade is Sci-Fi/Horror done correctly. Strong performances from Logan Marshall-Green and Betty Gabriel and an equally strong script from Leigh Whannell allow for an entertaining, night in film. Go out and buy it now.
Thanks for reading and look out for part 4 of The 52 In 52 next Thursday.
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