Upgrade

Rating: R

Evoking thoughts of Frankenstein and Blade Runner, Upgrade finds a way to be funny, violent, scary & thought provoking all in one gritty but beautiful film. A solid Sci-fi / Action so layered with social commentary and delivered with such subtle, stunning technique that you’ll be left questioning our world and the path we may be taking as a society.

Living up to Writer/Director, Leigh Whannell's reputation for gore & violence, Upgrade has scenes that would make weaker stomach's queasy, and earns its R rating. However the gore is never for long or unnecessary and for the most part Whannell uses an unseen monster to create fear & foreboding of what is to come.

The future world that Whannell creates utilises the stark difference between the otherworldly feel of technology juxtaposed harshly against the grittiness of those who seemingly live without technology. Resulting in a society so eerily familiar, it ends up feeling like a terrifying glimpse into our future.

Logan Marshall-Green excels in his performance, bringing a lightness & humor to even the most violent moments. The intensity and depth of emotional turmoil he conveys transports the audience into the journey he is on ensuring that they can understand and have empathy for each decision his character makes. Utilising his skill in physicality Marshall-Green creates a clear divide between the Artificial Intelligence character within him and his own human character.

Only the music at times let the film down, at times it tried so hard to be important to the mood that it became overwhelming, losing any impact it may have been able to bring.

Cleaver use of camera angles in key moments created the look and stiffness of a video game player view, driving home the question of how far are we willing to go with/ for technology, and how connected to it should we be? The many twists and turns taken to answer this question all the way through to the unexpected ending are surprising yet satisfying.