Upgrade (2018) is one of those movies that is shot so well that you would not be able to tell that it has a very small budget. Upgrade (2018) movie review
Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, the movie tells a story about a man who gets an implant in his head called Stem. It helps him gain control after he loses everything dear to him. Movie is set in a near future where technology controls all aspects of our life. It is a revenge movie that has been done many times, but this one has a distinction of being set in the future. The new technology being used to drive the plot forward.
In the beginning the main character Grey Trace (played by Logan Marshall-Green) comes off as a sympathetic person who loses everything that he cares about. To top it off, he is also a technophobe (doesn’t like technology) in a world controlled by technology and you have a man who is lost and doesn’t have a huge will to live. He is a good person and unfortunately one of the only people that is developed. Other people, even his wife (who is not in the movie for long), are underdeveloped. There are also stereotypic bad guys and stereotypical overly determined police officers. They are OK characters, just not interesting.
When he gets STEM implanted into him, Grey becomes a whole new person. He becomes nervous as well as very confident in his actions. He knows this new implant could be his way into a new life. STEM takes over his body so he doesn’t have any control. This, IMO, makes it interesting once he starts to take down bad guys. In a lot of scenes, Grey moves around (controlled by STEM) and you can see how horrified he is that his body is able to kill these people in such a graphic manner. It is in a sense kind of funny because the movements are fluid but his facial expressions are so uncomfortable/horrified.
The action in the movie (hand to hand combat) is surreal and stilted. Green did a lot of his stunts for the movie. He consulted real life quadriplegics and noticed a lot of them using their hands to tell a story. He incorporated this into the movie by training with a movement coach from Cirque du Soleil to create rigid movements in all the fight scenes that felt fluid as well as appear as if Green had no control once STEM was activated. In order to create this effect, the main actor had a phone under his clothes that the camera was locked on to in order to follow all his movements. It gave it a unique look that made the audience feel more involved in the action. As for special effects, the director went with mainly practical effects that were enhanced with CGI.
The whole movie was a blast to watch. Whannell was able to accomplish so much that the movie never felt cheap. The action was fluid and shows huge effort main actor put into bringing to life a relatable character. He performs some great action scenes and come off as a nice guy who we sympathize with. With such a small budget, the director was able to accomplish so much. I love these types of movies that tell a lot and bring to the table something unique and memorable. They show a huge effort on top of it. I am also looking forward to seeing more of Logan Marshall-Green’s work because he works tirelessly on his movies.
Thanks for reading my Upgrade (2018) movie review
