๐จ Not Man. Not Machine. More.
๐ฝ Upgrade • 2018 (Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller) R •๐1h 40m
๐ Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Melanie Vallejo, Steve Danielsen • ๐ฌDirector: Leigh Whannell • ๐Writer: Leigh Whannell
——• ๐ Plot:
Set in the near future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when the world of Grey, a self-labeled technophobe, is turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant. Grey's a stay-at-home mechanic, whose wife is Asha. One day, Grey asks Asha to help him return a car to his client. Whilst Grey and Asha's self-driving car malfunctions, it crashes. Grey watches helplessly as Asha bleeds to death next to him. Grey returns home - a widowed quadriplegic, under the care of his mother. His wife's death and the inability of police to identify their attackers cause him to sink into a depression. After a suicide attempt, he's offered to have the high-tech chip implanted - enabling him to walk. Though initially hesitant, he's persuaded to have the surgery.
——• ๐ก Trivia:
▸ During the fight scenes, the camera often tracks Grey so that he remains in the middle of the frame. According to director Leigh Whannell, this was achieved by hiding a phone somewhere on actor Logan Marshall-Green, which the cameras could then pair to and follow with as much accuracy as possible.
▸ At one point during the hacker building sequence, the Saw (2004) doll can be seen painted on one of the walls. Leigh Whannell, the director of this movie, also wrote the first Saw (2004) feature film screenplay.
▸ The company Cobolt is referenced throughout the film - a hi-tech military prosthetics firm that employed Asha and provided several of the advanced 'upgrades' used by the assassins, including optical implants. In Leigh Whannell's next film, The Invisible Man (2020), Cobolt is the hi-tech optics company founded by Cecilia's abusive ex Adrian Griffin. Since the two films are set several decades apart, it's likely that they're quietly set in a shared universe, and that both iterations of Cobolt are the same company at different times.
▸ Filming started in March 2017 in Leigh Whannell's hometown of Melbourne and lasted for 30 days.
▸ When Grey enters the apartment block to find "Jamie", he pauses at some apartment buzzers. One of them says "J. Wan" - James Wan has been Leigh Whannell's main collaborator since the first "Saw (2004)" film.
——• ๐ฉ Review:
➤ 'This movie was astonishing' by 0UMar 22, 2020
Upgrade is unfortunately in the club of great movies that completely flew under the radar when first released. But that might work to its advantage, as this is one of those movies where the less you know going in, the better. The only reason I was aware of Upgrade is because of writer/director Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious), and the fact I'd heard plenty of great things from friends who'd seen it. The film takes the all-too-familiar premise of a man looking to avenge the murder of his wife and puts an interesting new sci-fi spin on it. Whannell loves the classics because Upgrade's influences are easy to spot - RoboCop, Blade Runner, Dredd, Death Wish. They've all been thrown in a blender, and what comes out is something that feels like its own movie, while also paying tribute to everything that inspired Whannell to become a filmmaker in the first place. Upgrade is violent, thought-provoking, funny, and surprising, with some terrific fight sequences, an awesome soundtrack, and a dynamite performance from Logan Marshall-Green. I also get the feeling I'm gonna love it even more the next time I watch it. Highly recommended for fans of sci-fi/action.
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