Review of Upgrade (2018) by Teddy F — 13 Jun 2018

Upgrade - a movie that boasts an interesting sci-fi concept, but ultimately fails due to its lack of character development and iffy writing. Initially I tossed this movie aside thinking it would be no more than a mindless action piece, however, the good reviews leading up to Upgrade's release had me excited; could it be a futuristic John Wick? No, my surging expectations were partly let down as I found Upgrade to be largely forgettable.

Logan Marshall-Green, Tom Hardy's doppelganger, stars in the film as protagonist Grey Trace, a car-enthusiast who ends up paralyzed from a mugging which also results in his wife's death. Trace is later cured from his quadriplegia by an artificial intelligence implant known as Stem and with his newfound strength, tracks down his wife's killers. Marshall-Green shows signs of acting range in this one, transitioning between depressed and hopeless to a more humorous attitude; more impressive was his ability to make it appear he did not have control over his body in the fight scenes where he allows Stem to take control of his actions. His ability to display facial reactions of amazement and fear regarding his sudden abilities, while continuing to use the rest of his body to complete the action sequences could not have been easy and for that he deserves credit. Beyond Marshall-Green, there aren't any other performances worth noting.

Upgrade surprised me, but not enough for me to like it too much. I went in expecting a lot of action, fight scenes every five seconds, but was disappointed by what felt like not as much action as advertised. What surprised me were the sci-fi concepts and amount of story that took place. The story of Grey seeking revenge for his wife was more compelling than other movies with the same storyline, for example Death Wish, and the futuristic technology/society created was unique, impressive, and believable despite the smaller budget. However, outside of Grey, there aren't any strong or developed characters. We never learn anything about the cop who follows Grey and the main antagonist for most of the film has some story behind him that hardly gets explored; he is an upgraded being similar to Grey and is not the only one. Most of the fun in the movie comes from the interactions between Stem and Grey within Grey's head, their conversations often entertaining, and from the no punches pulled fight sequences when we can get them. The fights are brutal, the ends of them similar to that of a fatality (Mortal Kombat), and are not for the faint of heart; this whole movie is not for the faint of heart, blood is spilled. Lastly, the ending twist is not original and slightly predictable.

Upgrade is a violent futuristic action that has some originality to it, but ends up failing because of how forgettable it is.