Recently, “chamber” science fiction cinema has found a second wind. The company may have contributed to this Netflix, perhaps a noticeable drop in the quality of high-budget films in this genre or an attempt by studios to save costs. "Upgrade" director Leigh Whannell replenishes the collection of low-budget science fiction films, confirming once again that money is not the color of art.
"Upgrade" does not spread thoughts throughout the tree, but shows us a short, extremely compressed cyberpunk parable. There is no introduction to the universe presented in the film, no scrupulous detail or backstory for the characters. The heroes live in the proposed circumstances, which are quite formal. And what is often a disadvantage for large projects (that same brevity, which, as we remember, is the sister of talent), for "Upgrade" is a virtue. A simple plot with a large number of assumptions and a minimum of connections between semantic blocks, within the framework of which an experienced viewer quickly begins to guess that the killer is a gardener, and the accomplice is a cook, could disappoint us, but a sense of proportion, the absence of vulgarities, inappropriateness and annoying dialogues save this film . In addition, it is worth paying attention to the fact that “Upgrade” - this is a good example of how to master budgets by shooting cheaply and cheerfully. External similarity Logan Marshall Green и Tom Hardy also makes this film more expensive than it is, and it seems to you that you are watching something low-budget, but at the same time subtly Hollywood-like.
The atmosphere is the main thing that Leigh Whannell was able to achieve: a gloomy world of the future under the light of dim neon signs, in which technology is not making people's lives easier, but a way to achieve dark goals. In addition, the film, in fact, raises the question of the role and place of man in the world of the future and shows the formation of a new type of person in the process of transforming the human into the digital, when gadgets not only become a part of life, like air and water, but replace our inner world, making you dependent on them.
Main character - Gray (Logan Marshall Green) is looking for the killers of his wife, while simultaneously talking to a computer voice in his head, which ultimately leads to irreversible consequences, but see for yourself about this. Opposing him is a nasty-looking villain with a ninth-grader mustache (Benedict Hardy), which also have their own computer voice built into them. Of course, in this simple plot there is also a sub-plot and above the boss there is what is called a “sub-boss”, and all this is served with SCI-FI sauce.
There is no need to build high expectations about this picture, it is like a demo version of some future major project, but at the same time it has obvious potential and it is believed that Leigh Whannell may well rise higher on the cinematic ladder, at least in terms of budget and star casting, as happened, for example, with the same Neill Blomkamp. The main thing is not to lose your approach and ability to shoot a simple but clear movie.
"Upgrade" is a cocktail of “Blade Runner”, "Johnny Mnemonic" and other cyberpunk references, both modern and classic, with a pinch of the newcomer “Mute” and the cherry in the form of the final fight between the heroes, conceptually similar to “Drive” с Mark Dacascas, only executed in the aesthetics of “Bornovism”. Despite the fact that the film is not a new word in the fantasy genre, it is definitely worth watching.
I just wanted to look at it the other day, and there it is, downloaded and waiting. There haven't been any reviews from you for a while.
Thanks for the review. I agree that with such “means” it turned out to be a good film in the genre.
The only negative, even minusive, is the deliberate predictability of the ending. From the first frames it is clear who is the boss of the radish.