Day 154 of the challenge! Despite relying on usual sci-fi tropes (and a problematic and cliché inciting indecent), Upgrade is a blast all the way through! The film does an okay job playing around with the usual ideas adherent to most cyberpunk narratives (what does it mean to be human in a technological dystopia, the dangers of surrendering ourselves to technology, etc) without really adding anything new. You can make a checklist of cyberpunk "must haves" and check them off as you watch. The character work also leaves something to be desired. Upgrade instead relies on it's stylish (and bloody) imagery and action sequences to win over it's audiences.
Action junkies have plenty to look forward to. The incredibly well shot and choreographed fights in Upgrade are right up there with those in John Wick or Mission Impossible (on a smaller scale of course) in their level of pure visceral awesomeness. This alone makes the movie worth the trip to the theater. I'm not saying you can't appreciate the other aspects of the film, but I feel there are other movies and stories out there that have done it much better. Upgrade is more "witty" than "smart", and it owns it!
Personal Note: I feel this is the closest we've gotten to getting a Deus Ex movie (specifically Deus Ex: Human Revolution) as far as tone and atmosphere go. It also happens to be my all time favorite video game franchise and one of those better stories. C'mon Hollywood! Make it happen! I'll also list off a few of the other cyberpunk and artificial intelligence focused stories that I think are worth checking out if you haven't already:
- Ex Machina (one of my all time favorites)
- HBO's Westworld (the original movie is campy fun though)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution (video game)
- Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049
- Ghost in the Shell (the anime film, NOT the Scarlett Johansson film)
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence