UPGRADE (2018) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

UPGRADE (2018) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   95 minutes

Released         |   14 June 2018

cast

Logan Marshall-Green ... Grey Trace
Betty Gabriel ... Cortez
Melanie Vallejo ... Asha Trace
Benedict Hardie ... Fisk
​Harrison Gilbertson ... Eron
​Simon Maiden ... Stem

director

Leigh Whannell

writer

​Leigh Whannell

cinematographer

​Stefan Duscio

music

​​Jed Palmer

film editor

​Andy Canny

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box office result

Worldwide               $? million

Australia                 $? million

North America        $? million

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the best dialogue

​Grey Trace: Stem, he's got a knife!

Stem: [Calmly] I see that. We have a knife too.

[Grey, under Stem's control, takes the knife from the assailant and stabs the assailant with the knife]

UPGRADE (2018) MOVIE IMAGES

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UPGRADE (2018) STORY SYNOPSIS

A brutal mugging leaves Grey Trace paralyzed in the hospital. A billionaire inventor soon offers Trace a cure -- an artificial intelligence implant called STEM that will enhance his body. Now able to walk, Grey finds that he also has superhuman strength and agility -- skills he uses to seek revenge against the thugs who destroyed his life.

UPGRADE (2018) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 10 May 2018
Pop ​Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐

Leigh Whannell made a name for himself as part of the Melbourne-based filmmaking duo who brought the highly sadistic SAW franchise to life all the way back in 2003. The other half of the duo, James Wan, has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s most in-demand Blockbuster directors. Whannell has been more content with writing; pumping out numerous sequels to the SAW franchise, along with the supernatural thriller INSIDIOUS series. From time-to-time, Whannell also pops up in front of the camera, most notably as the lovable but dorky “Specs” in the aforementioned INSIDIOUS movies.

It’s not before time then that Whannell jumps back behind the camera for his sophomore directing gig with UPGRADE.

Where Whannell’s first-time directing effort, the 2015 INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3, looked like it was made by someone who was just learning their craft, UPGRADE is a far more assured effort and demonstrates Whannell’s as capable a Director as he is Writer.

It helps that Whannell receives sole writing credit for the film. It’s pretty easy for the Writer and Director to agree on a film’s “artistic vision” when they’re one in the same person…

UPGRADE is a mashup of character and story elements from a litany of popular Science Fiction and Horror stories. From Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN, 1980s cinematic icons THE TERMINATOR & ROBOCOP, to Luc Besson’s LUCY, UPGRADE begs, borrows and steals to create a surprisingly compelling story punctuated by high levels of violence and a subversive commentary about corporate cyber skullduggery. In terms of theme and tone, UPGRADE is quite similar to the 2014 Jose Padhila ROBOCOP. While Padhila’s take on the 1987 film was not as universally embraced as Paul Verhoeven’s original, it was not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination and it’s no slight to compare UPGRADE favourably to it.

UPGRADE has been made on a budget. Shot in Melbourne, the film features a lot of practical location shooting. Set in the near-future, Whannell is able to stretch the recycling of the film’s physical props to breaking point. What the film lack in production however, it surely makes up for in sheer energy and this is an important point to understand…

It’s not lie to say that film’s with ten times the budget of UPGRADE are nowhere near as effective because they lack one simple element: ENERGY. While an amount of “Drama” is required for the sake of the story, Whannell never allows UPGRADE’s performers to get carried away with their theatrical aspirations. No one is Method Acting, that’s for sure.

Logan Marshall-Greene plays the film’s main protagonist, Grey Trace. Trace is not overly accepting of technology that has emerged in the near future and much prefers to get his hands dirty working a classic cars for wealthy clients. Trace invites his wife Asha, played by Melanie Vallejo, along for the ride to drop off his latest job for the reclusive computer genius Eron, who happens to own the company that competes directly with Asha Trace’s employer. Cue the corporate espionage sub-plot…

Husband and wife get caught up in events that are beyond their control, with Trace being left a quadriplegic after a brutal attack by a gang of cybernetically-enhanced militia. Eron offers Trace a chance to regain mobility with a revolutionary treatment to implant a computer chip, known as STEM, into his spine and live his life as before. Trace reluctantly agrees and soon discovers that STEM has not just returned him to what he was like before but has enhanced his physical skills to an almost superhuman level.

Whannell is an experienced feature film writer and understands that, in the absence of a grounded story, the best way to keep an audience engaged is to keep feeding them either a) the action, or b) the suspense. Despite its Science Fiction premise, UPGRADE is very much an Action movie. While it may have been stretching audience acceptance to set the film in the Present Day, UPGRADE could have almost gotten away with doing exactly that. By setting the story in the near future, Whannell keeps the film relatable without having to keep it grounded. This is where UPGRADE succeeds where the recent crop of Netflix original Science Fiction films such as BRIGHT, MUTE and THE TITAN have not (an exception being Alex Garland’s tremendous ANNIHILATION). Those films all became mired in their effort to deliver some kind of meaningful message about the human condition. Whannell’s experience, especially working with Producer Jason Blum, sees him take the road most travelled, but it is also the one with the greatest opportunity for commercial success.

UPGRADE isn’t afraid to go ultra-violent either. Whannell calls upon his Horror film experience to deliver some truly eye-wincing shots. Unlike the SAW series, UPGRADE is not a slow-drip exercise in human suffering. The violence is matched to the pace of the action and very much in keeping with Trace’s character development and the story. Perhaps the most important thing to take from the violence is that UPGRADE is made for adults. It’s definitely not a children’s film and its rating should be well and truly heeded.

Perhaps the greatest point of contention is the film’s ending. It’s fair to suggest that no one will be left sitting on the fence with their opinion about where Trace’s character arc finishes. Some will love it and others will hate it. Given the success Whannel has had in the Horror genre with developing ongoing film franchises, there’s a better-than-average chance he’s already got a follow-up story for UPGRADE in his head. Produced under the Blumhouse Tilt banner, it’s hard to imagine UPGRADE cost more than $10 million. It would be a shock to find out if it did. That being the the case, UPGRADE will only need to gross $40 million to $50 million globally to get a sequel. Based on Jason Blum’s personal endorsement of UPGRADE at the 2018 SXSW Festival and the film’s international pre-sales, audiences will be seeing the next version of Grey Trace sooner rather than later.

UPGRADE MOVIE (2018) USEFUL LINKS

Upgrade (film) - Wikipedia
​Upgrade (2018) - IMDb 
​Upgrade (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes

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