Upgrade

Uncompromising action mayhem orgasm! Leigh Whannell, writer of Insidious and Saw, tries directing for the second time and it turns out great. Logan Marshall-Green, who has a Tom Hardy vibe, excels in the lead role and you root for him throughout the film. For the first time in a long while, a truly original film unlike anything I had seen before, and the action scenes are awesome, with no blood or violence spared. Combining my favourite sub-genre of revenge in a high-tech jacket was a great choice and suits the film perfectly. I find the fights (the final one is a treat) and the denouement satisfying as well. Although it is hardly a horror film at all, it is a solid action-sci-fi-revenge thriller. 85%. (14/08/2018)

With its spectacularly upgraded vengeance drama theme, Upgrade tells a story as simple as old Van Damme karate flicks, but with a futuristic dimension more reminiscent of – due to its lower budget – the original Terminator. This action sci-fi movie is innovative with some original details and has slight cult potential. Whannell surprised us. Even Wan himself couldn’t have shot it better. (04/10/2018)

John Wick meets Robocop and Black Mirror. I had fun and it didn't seem stupid to me at all. Quite the contrary. The world of the future surprised me with its thoughtfulness, and I was excited by all imaginative implants, especially the weapon implants. Although... there was no time for any major explaining or pausing over the action of the protagonist, the plot is not superb, everything is resolved briskly on the march, and thanks to the direction it has style and thanks to the script, it makes sense. Last time I was this pleased was when I watched District 9. (07/10/2020)

Grey's wife was just killed by a group of thugs and he ended up in a wheelchair. But his days aren't over, thanks to an experimental chip and artificial intelligence, he's started walking again and can get his revenge, and the computer in his body is willing to help him do it. Upgrade is an action-packed B-movie that's surprisingly smarter than it looks at first glance. Plus, it has some great uncompromising and brutal action, so it's fun to watch. It's just a shame there wasn't someone more capable and charismatic in the lead role. But it's still very much above average in its genre. (24/08/2018)

This is one of those films where the plausible psychological evolution of the main character, following a brutal attack and the loss of his beloved wife, is completely brushed aside and subordinated to him being able to joke and be tough, immediately after getting “superpowers”. To be clear, in this particular case it didn’t bother me at all, but it’s worth noting in case someone went to this film expecting some serious technological sci-fi. Upgrade is nothing but a light-weight B-movie. A quality and proud B-movie with a lot of nice ideas, plenty of original tricks and a confident technical aspect. I would compare it a little to the new Dredd, but as an experience, Upgrade is a notch higher. What’s fun is that many of the things that seem silly while watching make a lot more sense when you understand the points. On the other hand, I’m not quite sure whether everything that makes sense while watching, still make sense in hindsight. In any case, I’m happy that, after five years, Whannell has written something interesting again, and happier still that he found a director. (15/08/2018)