Upgrade
4/5
Written and Directed by: Leigh Whannell
Rated: R
Grey Trace is a human living in a world of machines. He accepts no cybernetic implants or the digital enhancements his neighbors have assimilated. His preferred form of transportation is a nonelectric car without navigational systems or automatic pilot. The only thing in this mechanical world that makes Grey elicit positive emotion is his wife, Asha Trace. She, however, will perish in an assassination, which will also cost Grey the ability to move his arms and legs. As a quadriplegic, Grey believes his life is over, until an experimental neural networking processor, Stem, is implanted into Grey's spine. While Stem gives Grey the ability to walk again, it also enhances other aspects of his life. Stem can help Grey find and eliminate the men who killed Asha.
Leigh Whannell's Upgrade is an incredible and foreboding tale. The most immediate aspect Upgrade's viewers will latch onto are its performances. Logan Marshall-Green expertly embodies Grey Trace's humanity and moral imbalance. Grey's character is someone audiences can easily relate to, and Marshall-Green does an exceptional job playing this memorably naïve everyman. Grey is naïve, because he underestimates Stem's capabilities. Though Stem does not have physical form, their voice is supplied by Simon Maiden who offers a vocal performance that is both artificial and earnest. Maiden's performance makes sure audiences know Stem is not alive, but it makes audiences question whether Stem is inanimate. Accompanying these two remarkable performers are Betty Gabriel as the intrepid and righteous Detective Cortez, Benedict Hardie as the conniving and bloodthirsty Fisk and Harrison Gilbertson as Stem's intelligent creator Eron.
Whannell's control of this film is uncanny. This is strongly illustrated through his screenplay and his direction. The dialogue between characters illustrates their relationships and exemplifies their goals and motivations. The dialogue between characters also makes each human and nonhuman within this film feel real and tangible. Every character's success, malfunction or termination is felt and may even be internalized by some audience members. Upgrade's screenplay is full of tragedy, drama, comedy and palpability, which is only greater exude through this film's extraordinary direction.
Whannell's execution of his film is unpredictable and awe-inspiring. Each frame contains energy, and this energy is always sufficiently used. Upgrade's most remarkable scenes are its euphoric action sequences, where Grey gives Stem his permission to have full control over Grey's body. Stem then quickly dispatches all of Grey's opponents using Grey's body. During these scenes, the camera is moved and angled so as to make Grey look as if he is always standing motionless. Despite that Grey's body is performing efficiently executed stunt work, these scenes visually show Grey as being a bystander in his own battle, unable to take down his opponent without Stem. This is also illustrated through Marshall-Green's performance clearly depicting his shock at his body's movements and Stem's control. These combative and violent scenes give audiences a rare exhilaration they do not usually feel.
This adrenaline rush audience members may experience would continue, if not for how each bloody confrontation ends. Stem sees people as technology that can be broken, and so Stem does not hesitate nor does Stem worry about murder. The murders exhibited within this film are gruesome. They are designed to terrify audience members and make them question their morality the same way Grey does. Along with this film's surgery scenes where humans are opened up like computers, it is not recommended that the easily squeamish enter this film unaware. The makeup and viscera exhibited in this film should not be underestimated, and viewers should take extreme caution before submitting themselves to Upgrade's experience. If audience members can dare to open their eyes and take in this film's violence, open their minds to this film's message on the importance of knowing who is in control and open their hearts to this film's depiction of good and evil, then Upgrade's experience will linger in their minds long after the film finishes.
Verdict: Leigh Whannell's Upgrade is a foreboding tragedy about the importance of good and evil control illustrated through an incredible cast, an uncanny screenplay, euphoric direction and terrifying violence.
Leigh Whannell's Upgrade is an incredible and foreboding tale. The most immediate aspect Upgrade's viewers will latch onto are its performances. Logan Marshall-Green expertly embodies Grey Trace's humanity and moral imbalance. Grey's character is someone audiences can easily relate to, and Marshall-Green does an exceptional job playing this memorably naïve everyman. Grey is naïve, because he underestimates Stem's capabilities. Though Stem does not have physical form, their voice is supplied by Simon Maiden who offers a vocal performance that is both artificial and earnest. Maiden's performance makes sure audiences know Stem is not alive, but it makes audiences question whether Stem is inanimate. Accompanying these two remarkable performers are Betty Gabriel as the intrepid and righteous Detective Cortez, Benedict Hardie as the conniving and bloodthirsty Fisk and Harrison Gilbertson as Stem's intelligent creator Eron.
Whannell's control of this film is uncanny. This is strongly illustrated through his screenplay and his direction. The dialogue between characters illustrates their relationships and exemplifies their goals and motivations. The dialogue between characters also makes each human and nonhuman within this film feel real and tangible. Every character's success, malfunction or termination is felt and may even be internalized by some audience members. Upgrade's screenplay is full of tragedy, drama, comedy and palpability, which is only greater exude through this film's extraordinary direction.
Whannell's execution of his film is unpredictable and awe-inspiring. Each frame contains energy, and this energy is always sufficiently used. Upgrade's most remarkable scenes are its euphoric action sequences, where Grey gives Stem his permission to have full control over Grey's body. Stem then quickly dispatches all of Grey's opponents using Grey's body. During these scenes, the camera is moved and angled so as to make Grey look as if he is always standing motionless. Despite that Grey's body is performing efficiently executed stunt work, these scenes visually show Grey as being a bystander in his own battle, unable to take down his opponent without Stem. This is also illustrated through Marshall-Green's performance clearly depicting his shock at his body's movements and Stem's control. These combative and violent scenes give audiences a rare exhilaration they do not usually feel.
This adrenaline rush audience members may experience would continue, if not for how each bloody confrontation ends. Stem sees people as technology that can be broken, and so Stem does not hesitate nor does Stem worry about murder. The murders exhibited within this film are gruesome. They are designed to terrify audience members and make them question their morality the same way Grey does. Along with this film's surgery scenes where humans are opened up like computers, it is not recommended that the easily squeamish enter this film unaware. The makeup and viscera exhibited in this film should not be underestimated, and viewers should take extreme caution before submitting themselves to Upgrade's experience. If audience members can dare to open their eyes and take in this film's violence, open their minds to this film's message on the importance of knowing who is in control and open their hearts to this film's depiction of good and evil, then Upgrade's experience will linger in their minds long after the film finishes.
Verdict: Leigh Whannell's Upgrade is a foreboding tragedy about the importance of good and evil control illustrated through an incredible cast, an uncanny screenplay, euphoric direction and terrifying violence.
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