‘UPGRADE’ Review

On paper the log line can sound a little familiar: an every-man’s wife is killed by a group of criminals and he embarks on a vengeful killing spree, not resting until the killer is vanquished. But what Whannel does with this common concept is completely turn it around into something new.

Upgrade stars Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace, an “analog mechanic” who works on older cars and who is seemingly distant from the hyper-advanced technological world around him. One night while out with his wife Asha (Mellanie Velajo) in their self-driving car, the car malfunctions and crashes. Having survived, they are pulled out of the car by a mysterious group of criminals and his wife is killed. Grey is also shot, resulting in him becoming a paraplegic. Grey eventually agrees to be the subject of a special surgery that involves placing a chip inside of him – called STEM – that could result in him being able to walk again.

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The surgery is a success and he becomes completely mobile again. And to his surprise, when he is alone he hears a voice inside his head – the voice of the chip itself. STEM (voiced by Simon Maiden) has the ability to speak to Grey and with his permission he can control Grey’s movements if necessary. STEM is almost like a built-in-your-body Jarvis but with casually violent tendencies and the drive to do what is necessary at any cost. STEM notices things Grey does not – such as a tattoo of one of the thugs in a surveillance video – and what follows is a trail of clues that leads Grey on a revenge mission and the hunt to find the man behind the murder of his wife, which all really begins when the clues lead Grey to the home of one of the assailants and he is forced to fight. Stuck in a life or death situation, STEM asks for permission to take control of his body. What follows is the one of the best action scenes of the year and the rest of the film takes on a breakneck pace. Grey’s reaction to his body being in control of STEM is so fun to watch and his comedic timing is perfect. The action gets increasingly gory and more visceral and STEM’s commentary anytime he volunteers to take control and kill somebody is funny, and at times uncomfortable when we wonder if he’s going too far.

There is a point in the movie where it becomes sort of a cautionary tale. Humanity’s reliance on technology and to truly upgrade yourself into something different. We learn Grey isn’t really the only upgraded person – there are gangsters with integrated guns in their hands and various other ways they have weaponized their bodies into something beyond human. There are a few clunky bits –  some of the acting can be hammy, particularly from Eron (Harrison Gilbertson), the scientist behind STEM, but I think the movie knows what it is and wears its influences proudly on its sleeve. Even during those less than stellar acting moments, you can tell the actors are having fun chewing up the scenery.

Logan Marshall-Green is great in the role of Grey Trace. If anyone saw him as a poor man’s Tom Hardy before (oh, internet) now he’s someone that should be on everybody’s radar. He stands up as a good actor to watch in his on right. His reactions to the transformations in his body is some of the best physical comedy I’ve seen in a long time and he really sold the movie because of that. When STEM is in control, Grey is along for the ride with the rest of the audience and that’s what makes it so entertaining.

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What was refreshing to me was how we’re not immediately given a year that the film takes place in. We don’t know when we are right away – and in the opening scene, when we’re in the Grey’s garage where he’s working on his car, we think this could be any time – even now. I like that we’re not given a specific year because it establishes that we are in the future, but at the same time its given a timeless quality. Years from now it won’t feel quite as dated as other “future” movies. It works for the most part until characters get a little self-referential about their surroundings, such as focusing on the technology and drawing attention to their own amazement of the advancements in front of them, but it’s a minor nitpick as we empathize with Grey who seems to prefer to live behind the times. Even if the dialogue is occasionally clunky, the movie is plotted with care, with clues hidden throughout that make me want to see it again. What’s great is how he takes a familiar plot and somehow brushes it over with a refreshing sci-fi concept. Seeing another movie set in the future but with designs that don’t feel derivative was a terrific surprise. Whannel, much like his common collaborator James Wan, understands how to please audiences. The pacing is perfect for this kind of story, and it never feels slow, especially once we get to the first scene where STEM truly demonstrates its abilities when it works with Grey.

Though the plot isn’t the most original, in its third act it becomes something much different than expected – and only in a way Whannell could conjure up, turning the audience on its head.

I don’t know if the ending will work for everyone. If you think about it too much, it may seem a little too convoluted. But if you’re a fan of the mind meddling sort of endings common in Whannel’s films such as Saw and Dead Silence then you are in for a treat. The cinematography is a feast for the eyes and it features a wonderfully moody soundtrack by Jed Palmer that really gets under your skin. Upgrade takes itself seriously enough but not too much to the point where it forgets that it’s a fun throwback to pulpy B-movies, while also holding a lot of weight on its own. It’s imaginative, stylish, and full of wonderfully dark humor.