Review of Upgrade (2018) by Dave V — 30 Aug 2018

'Upgrade' has been favorably compared in professional reviews to the original 'RoboCop' - with good reason. Both depict men brutalized and then made more than they were with advanced technology. Grey Trace, the protagonist in 'Upgrade' follows a similar path to Alex Murphy in 'RoboCop'. In pursuit of vengeance, both must come to terms with how the technology used to save their lives has irrevocably changed them in unanticipated ways.

Logan Michael Green is a new face, and a quite talented one. His facial expressions are remarkable, and the changes in his movement styles pre- and post-surgery clearly show two distinctly different characterizations of the same individual. I look forward to more of his work.

The action scenes are well-choreographed and use interesting cinematographic tricks to make them more spectacular.

One conceit of the movie involves antagonists with guns surgically implanted in their forearms. While visually impressive and a very intriguing idea, as someone with good understanding of both anatomy and firearms, I found it harder to willingly suspend disbelief watching the forearm guns in action. There are simply too many things that scream 'impossible'.

Like 'RoboCop', 'Upgrade' takes pointed critical aim at modern society's increasing dependence on automated technologies - especially when such technology has yet to be proven sufficiently safe. Also, both films discuss the implications of cybernetics - when machine is melded with man, how far is too far?

Leigh Whannel is known for twist endings to his movies, and 'Upgrade' is no exception. Without spoilers, I will only say I don't like this particular twist for what I feel are valid reasons. I understand Whannel's artistic choice, but I disagree with it.