Upgrade (2018)

I had never heard of Upgrade, then, all of a sudden, everyone in the blogosphere started talking about it. "This is how Robocop was supposed to be", I read multiple times and, although I've never seen Robocop, I decided to check it out. 

Set in a near future where almost everything is controlled by technology, the film follows Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green), a man who lost his wife (Melanie Vallejo) and his limbs all in one night when their self-driving car malfunctioned and left them to the mercy of some muggers. Grey is approached by a reclusive computer genius, Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson), who offers him the opportunity to walk again with the help of a neck implant called STEM. The surgery succeeds and Grey soon learns that STEM (voiced by Simon Maiden) can talk to him and that it is a pretty smart system, and given the lack of progress by the detective (Betty Gabriel) assigned to her case, Grey uses Stem's capabilities to find the men who killed his wife. 

It's basically your typical revenge story but at the same time, it's not. Though some parts are predictable, there are some plot holes here and there, a bit of convenience when needed, and it's not an entirely original idea as it deals with several familiar themes, the plot is fluid, incredibly compelling and gripping as it takes some unexpected directions and delivers a mind-blowing twist at the end.

The main character, Grey Trace, isn't particularly strong but he has enough characterization and development for you to sympathise with and care for. And the credits entirely go to Logan Marshall-Green, who I thought was Tom Hardy when I first saw a picture from the movie. He gives such a convincing performance as Grey, especially when it comes to the physicality of his character. He is a bit weak on delivering emotions though.

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The supporting characters are very poorly written though. None of them has characterization nor development, they are just there because the film wouldn't make a lot of sense with only Grey. That said, there's a member of the cast that really amazed me. I'm talking about Betty Gabriel (Get Out's housekeeper Georgina). She has a very limited screentime as the detective investigating the murder, but she leaves a mark.

What I liked the most about Upgrade though is the futuristic vision of the director, Leigh Whannell. With the exception of STEM, the futuristic world he has created is very realistic and believable --for example, most people, normal people, still ride normal cars; only the elite has supercars.

The cinematography is quite impressive and creative for a low-budget movie, and so are the special effects and action sequences. I'm pretty sure they look more expensive than they actually are. The score is also very atmospheric and the dark humour is pulled off quite well.