‘Upgrade’ Film Review: Logan Marshall-Green Battles Bad Guys in A.I. Revenge Thriller
The latest from “Saw” and “Insidious” creator Leigh Whannell is a funny, splattery mess
Dave White | May 31, 2018 @ 4:15 PM
Last Updated: May 31, 2018 @ 4:24 PM
BH Tilt
If you were casting a vote for Most Likely to Become an Electronic Killing Machine, Logan Marshall-Green (“Prometheus”) might not be the person you think of first. Low key, lanky, and fairly unassuming, he seems too chill to fit the bill.
And indeed, when we first meet him in “Upgrade,” the latest from writer-director Leigh Whannell (“Saw,” “Insidious”), Marshall-Green’s character, a mechanic named Grey, is content to stay home and refurbish vintage cars for a living while his tech industry wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) brings home the big money that affords them a futuristic smart-manor with elegantly glowing, talking walls that coolly remind them what groceries they need.
It’s the near future, one in which driverless cars are standard issue Lyfts and artificial intelligence permeates daily life. Grey, though, is more or less off the grid. Covered in engine grease, his analog cred is his calling card. So when billionaire weirdo tech-twink Eron (Harrison Gilbertson, Amazon’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock”) summons him for a consultation at an extravagantly minimalist underground lair, Grey brings Eron fan Asha along for the ride. Strange conversations about the future of A.I. ensue, and on their way home a car accident leads to a violent encounter with masked criminals who murder Asha and leave Grey paralyzed.
Living in frustrated isolation and grief, cared for by his mother (Linda Cropper, “The Leftovers”), Grey wants out of the house, possibly out of life itself. That’s when creepy, hovering Eron re-enters the picture, promising a surgically implanted A.I. device that will bring Grey’s body back to full function. The catch: Grey’s recovery must remain secret, for reasons that constitute spoilers. Eron’s clearly disturbed personality may be rivaled only by the mad scientist in “The Human Centipede,” but Grey is ready to endure anything that will allow him to hunt down the mystery men who murdered his wife.
Once Grey receives the cockroach-shaped device known as STEM, he’s back in action and performing wildly robotic martial-arts moves, extra crunchy face kicks, and death blows. Bad guys are on notice, as is patient-yet-suspicious detective Cortez (Betty Gabriel, “Get Out”), who keeps wondering why the still-officially-quadriplegic Grey is always caught on drone cameras at the sites of gruesome slaughter.
If it all sounds a little familiar and reductive, like an electronically enhanced “Death Wish,” that’s only because the film’s silly secrets and brutal set pieces are an integral part of the plot mix and can’t be revealed. If anything, the Australian-born Whannell is most fully in debt to his own country’s “Ozploitation” wave of the 1970s, where goofy, freewheeling, low-budget genre films upped the stakes with extreme action, sex, violence, and a general freedom from restraint.
Comedic death splatters the screen here, as STEM instructs Grey — intentionally soothing and vaguely sinister with its HAL9000 voice — to give up control of his own body and let science help him stomp the life out of his enemies. The shattered bones, punctured necks and viscera spray are frequently as witty as they are shocking, and they’re juxtaposed disorientingly against a cool, ambient blue, emotionless production design and art direction that fully and happily appropriates the chilliest auras of David Cronenberg.
Living spaces are sleekly rich or grimy death hovels, bodies are enhanced docking stations for machinery or broken-down social outcasts waiting to die. It’s a sleek, biomechanical future of desperate unhappiness where nobody gets out alive.
The actors here are capable and game for all of it, but Whannell doesn’t seem to care about that. There’s a whispery air of commentary on the probable negative social outcomes of widespread artificial intelligence, but that’s all it is, a noncommittal atmosphere. What Whannell wants most to do is torment and eventually pulverize most of the people in his narrative orbit and make you laugh while he does so.
Whannell seems never to have met an impossible and hilariously awful situation he didn’t like, whether it’s an imprisoned “Saw” victim with the key to the death chamber embedded behind his eye — sorry, dude, you have to gouge it out yourself with this plastic spork if you want to survive — or an A.I. central nervous system that traps its host and acts out autonomously with increasingly sadism.
He’s a gleefully menacing auteur who’s out to gross you out, his world one where humans are made to be broken, re-purposed, or discarded, their gurgling death rattles the punch line. In this case, the joke is about technology changing the world while not changing a thing, and it lives inside his universe’s ongoing gag, the one about moral righteousness being nice and whatever, but check out how cool it looks when that one guy’s face gets totally sliced off.
Here's Who Should Play the Kids From 'It' as Adults in 'Chapter 2' (and Who Really Is Playing Them)
Stephen King's novel "It" is actually two parallel stories, about a group of seven kids fighting the monstrous clown Pennywise, and then returning to finish the job as adults. With "It: Chapter One" a huge horror movie success, here's who we think should pick up the reins in "It: Chapter Two."
Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher): Edward Norton
An essential part of Bill Denbrough is that, as a child, he struggled with a stuttering problem. Jaeden Lieberher did a solid job dealing with the stutter as the leader of the Losers Club. Edward Norton, who has a decent physical resemblance to Lieberher, has proven to be one of the best stutterers possibly ever in his turn in the 1996 thriller “Primal Fear.” When he returns to Derry, the stutter does to, giving Norton a chance to deploy those skills again.
Jaeden Lieberher’s Choice: Christian Bale
During an interview with Moviefone, the "It: Chapter One" cast discussed their picks for who would play their adult counterparts. Lieberher said he’d like for Christian Bale to play the grown-up version of Bill, and Bale is known for taking tough acting roles. He’s got few that might qualify as horror, though, and hasn’t ever had to act scared of a demonic clown or its many other manifestations. But nobody let him wear the 2018 equivalent of 1990 Bill’s ponytail, which one assumes would be a manbun.
Actually playing Bill Denbrough: James McAvoy
Bill's quiet leadership fits pretty well with James McAvoy's aesthetic in a lot of movies, especially his recent superhero turn as Professor X in the "X-Men" movies. He can also pull out some deep creepiness, as we saw in the M. Night Shyamalan vehicle "Split," making McAvoy an interesting choice to fight the evil Pennywise.
Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis): Amy Adams
It’s actually a bit weird how much Sophia Lillis looks like Amy Adams, selling her as the grown-up version of Beverly. Lillis’ turn as Bev was actually a more brave and often heroic version than in the 1990 adaptation, and Adams’ experience as Lois Lane in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and as an alien researcher in “Arrival” would probably be valuable.
Sophia Lillis’ Choice: Jessica Chastain
Chastain is also a pretty good look-alike for Lillis, and her work definitely suggests she could handle both being very afraid of an evil clown and gritting her teeth in order to fight it. She’s also got some horror chops, having taken a turn adding creepiness to the situation in Guillermo del Toro’s “Crimson Peak.”
Actually cast as Beverly Marsh: Jessica Chastain
Sophia Lillis obviously knows what she's talking about when it comes to adult Beverly, since Chastain really is taking on the role.
Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor): Chris Hemsworth
In “It,” the 1990 TV movie adaptation, Ben is an overweight kid but gets in shape in his teens. He comes back as John Ritter, looking pretty good in a vest and beard. The ultimate “grew up to be hot” transformation for “It” would be Chris Hemsworth taking on the role of Ben. It might be overdoing it a little, but it would give Hemsworth a chance to fight some horror movie monsters after getting epicly offed in “Cabin in the Woods.”
Jeremy Ray Taylor’s Choice: Chris Pratt
Since he actually played the character, Taylor might actually have the better sense for casting here. Pratt transformed his body pretty significantly for his role in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. He’d have to resist being the group’s funnyman, though --that’s not Ben, and the role is already filled by Richie.
Actually cast as Ben Hanscom: Jay Ryan
New Zealand native Jay Ryan will take on the role of older Ben, which might not be as cool as becoming Thor, but still a solid glow up for the kid. Ryan is probably best known for his role in "Beauty and the Beast" on the CW, and previously appeared on Sundance TV and BBC 2's mystery "Top of the Lake."
Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard): Paul Rudd
Jokester Richie Tozier grows up to be a radio disc jockey in King’s novel, famous for doing a variety of voices. In the 1990 adaptation, he’s a stand-up comic, and in both versions he’s pretty successful. Rudd’s a proven comedian with plenty of drama chops as well, and he’s fought at least one monster in his movie career, taking on Michael Myers in “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.”
Finn Wolfhard’s Choice: Bill Hader
Bill Hader was actually my first choice too, but Wolfhard stole it. As a “Saturday Night Live” alum, Hader can definitely handle Richie’s humor, and he and Wolfhard actually look a lot alike. In fact, Hader is kind of perfect for the role, and it’d be an interesting change of pace to see him outside of a comedy.
Actually cast as Richie Tozier: Bill Hader
Like Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard nailed his casting idea. "SNL" alumnus Bill Hader looks quite a bit like Richie. The novel version of adult Richie wears contacts instead of Coke bottle glasses, but if the movie gave Hader the spectacles, he'd really look like Finn Wolfhard's grown-up counterpart.
Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs): Jordan Peele
In the book and 1990 adaptation, Mike Hanlon is the only member of the Losers Club who stays in Derry. He works as a librarian and keeps watch in case Pennywise ever shows back up in town. Mike’s role might change in “It: Chapter Two,” since the historian role he plays in the book fell to Ben in the movie, but Peele could still pull off the bookish but determined version of Hanlon. Plus, Peele’s a major horror fan.
Chosen Jacobs' Choice: Chadwick Boseman
If the kids from “It: Chapter One” have their way, two Marvel superheroes will show up in the Losers Club, which doesn’t sound very loser-y. That said, Boseman would definitely bring the role the gravitas that Mike needs as the “lighthouse keeper” who’s waiting for the monster, and who manages to reunite the Losers and convince them to keep their promises.
Actually cast as Mike Hanlon: Isaiah Mustafa
Isaiah Mustafa is probably best known for his role as Luke Garroway on Freeform's "Shadowhunters," and as the ripped Old Spice Guy who isn't Terry Crews. Chosen Jacobs announced the casting on his Instagram feed.
Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer): David Tennant
In “It,” Eddie is a smaller kid whose mother abuses him for his entire life by constantly trying to make him believe he’s sick. As a skinnier guy, Tennant has a similar physicality, but he’s also proven he can handle the mix of horror and comedy Jack Dylan Grazer brings to the role in the movie with his role in “Fright Night.”
Jack Dylan Grazer’s Choice: Jake Gyllenhaal
Gyllenhaal is also a pretty good fit for Eddie’s future self. He can handle Eddie’s hypochondriac intensity and can handle both the comedy aspects and the horrified freaking out that Grazer brings the character, and it helps that the pair have a similar look.
Stan Uris (Wyatt Oleff): Zach Braff
Of all the Losers, Stan Uris has the toughest time dealing with what he’s seen of the creature, and he’s come the closest of any of the kids to death. That’s a bit of neurosis that Braff could definitely handle as he struggles to come to grips with the promise he made and the need to return to Derry.
Wyatt Oleff’s Choice: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Another good pick from the “It” kids, Gordon-Levitt is definitely someone could handle Stan’s overwhelming fear of Pennywise pretty effectively as an actor. We could also stand to see him back in a horror movie after his stint in “Halloween: H20” back in 1998.
Actually cast as Stan Uris: Andy Bean
Andy Bean is set to take on the role of Stan in "IT: Chapter 2," and he has some genre chops to bring with him. Bean has had roles in "Allegiant" and "Transformers: The Last Knight," and also as one of the main cast in the Starz show "Power" for the first three seasons.
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Let’s do some casting inspired by Stephen King’s classic horror novel
Stephen King's novel "It" is actually two parallel stories, about a group of seven kids fighting the monstrous clown Pennywise, and then returning to finish the job as adults. With "It: Chapter One" a huge horror movie success, here's who we think should pick up the reins in "It: Chapter Two."
