The Gist:
A young mum gifts her son a defective but murderous doll.
The Review:
Off the bat, this latest incarnation Child’s Play was met with some controversy as soon as it was announced. Original creator Don Mancini denounced the film while his version will remain in its own zany universe. Needless to say, fans weren’t pleased either.
Hopefully, with all prejudices aside for whatever reason, they will see this movie is a whole lotta fun, well-made fun.
This version of Child’s Play does the rare thing of updating the original for the better. Gone is the spirit of a voodoo serial killer trapped in a toy doll. I’m sure many hard-core fans will shake their heads at the reason for Chucky’s being is because of some disgruntled Vietnamese assembly line worker switching off the Buddi doll’s inhibitors.
Buddi is the Alexa for kids, it talks, walks, bonds or imprints to its best friend and can control wifi settings which we all know is not a good idea. Buddi, this time round voiced by Mark Hamill, is considered defective, his eyes glow red, so single mom Aubrey Plaza takes the creepy looking thing home to her hard of hearing isolated son Andy (Gabriel Bateman)
Andy himself has been given an upgrade, this time he’s in his teens. He bonds with the black sheep while also making some new friends along the way, Ty Consiglio- Kristin York who also aid in Chucky’s descent into madness. Friendly next door neighbour Brian Tyree Henry brings most of the laughs.
The most interesting parts are seeing Chucky evolve from being a best friend to jealous murdering psychopath. Director Lars Kevberg clearly drawing influences from Spielberg, at one point Andy is wearing a dark red hoody, Chucky himself having his index finger light up whenever he’s using his “power.”
Any experienced moviegoer will be able to spot the influences from a mile off, some do work for the better while some miss the mark by a mile.
A few silly pot-crashing to the floor-jump scare attempts that felt way out of place at certain parts but a minor flaw.
As for the actual horror/gore scenes themselves, the crew appear to be the ones who were enjoying themselves the most. Chucky’s still a puppet, not CG, freaky looking from the get-go. Hamill himself now a veteran voice actor works well in creating something fresh and not trying to imitate Brad Dourif’s original but then again that would just be plain silly.
The Verdict:
A well thought out and carefully crafted reboot for the social media age.
No Comments