Review of Upgrade (2018) by Imdoingmypart — 31 May 2018

I find myself suffering from the condition currently known as “superhero fatigue.” It almost feels ungrateful for me to reject this wave of consistently entertaining and often charming action films, generally filled with playful banter and genuinely funny gags, but it’s gotten to the point of total predictability and the reoccurring post-credits question of “did I gain anything from watching this?” I guess it’s a more general fatigue; Star Wars, Jurassic World, Ocean’s 8, and countless others fall under the same category. Perhaps it’s more of a “summer fatigue” defined by A-list stars, big budgets, and, most importantly, safe and unimaginative stories.

Then we have Upgrade, a film that focuses entirely on a thrilling catalyst, stunning visuals, and physical performances – in lieu of any creative dialogue. At one point, I questioned if this production is a Verhoeven-inspired satire, since I often thought of Robocop both in story and in character interaction. In reflection, Upgrade does take a different path, but that is not to say that the film fails in its tone and purpose.

The film opens (after a unique opening credits sequence, I must add) with an entirely generic sci-fi scene: a man works on an old hot-rod in a futuristic society. The man’s wife comes home, and the two exchange painfully simple and flat dialogue that exposes a stale idea: some people embrace new technology, and some people reject it. Our protagonist even says something along the lines of “you see a new computer chip, I see ten people out of a job.” At that point, hope is all but lost for this film.

Out of nowhere, Upgrade picks up and does not stop. Tedious moments of forced interaction are replaced with strife and mystery. Genuine moments of physical comedy and tense action appear. The dialogue never becomes Shakespeare, but the film starts to feel more like James Cameron and less like Michael Bay. After the first twenty minutes, I was prepared to give Upgrade an undivided thumbs down. Forty minutes in, I was wondering if it was even the same film.

I cannot treat Upgrade like a sci-fi masterpiece. I cannot forgive its painful first act. I doubt that this film will resist the void of forgotten action flicks. But Upgrade’s second and third acts provide some of the best entertainment of 2018 so far and manage to offer the audience an escape from summer fatigue.