Year of Release: 2019
Director: Lars Klevberg
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry, Tim Matheson, Trent Redekop, David Lewis, Carlease Burke, Beatrice Kitsos, Ty Consiglio, Marlon Kazadi, Kristin York, Mark Hamill
Genre: Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
The original "Child's Play" from the creative mind of Don Mancini and director Tom Holland, has gone through the remake factory, some 30 something years after the original made its debut. The direction of this remake falls upon Lars Klevberg who has to his name the film "Polaroid" and a few shorts. The film follows the story of Andy, a young boy who lives with his single mom in a small apartment (in a city that is not identified). Karen works in a big department store, and decides to gift Andy with Buddi, the latest and greatest in smart toys, which connects with digital apps and also with smart houses, essentially controlling the environment of someone's residence. Andy's Buddi decides to call himself Chucky, but comes with some issues of cloud connection. It rapidly bonds with Andy, but also starts experiencing a possessive behavior, which quickly escalates to violence. The first of its victims is the cat of the house, followed by Karen's boyfriend, who violently berated Andy. Once Andy realizes Chucky's homicidal behavior, he tries to get rid of it, with the help of a few friends, but Chucky has plans of its own, and refuses to be turned away.
What made the original "Child's Play" so interesting and iconic, was not its supernatural component (the serial killer in the body of an innocent doll), but the sense of humor behind the perversity of its concept. It has been a concept that Don Mancini has smartly finessed, as the series has continued, embracing its B-movie aspect, amplifying its dark humor and surreal plot lines. This new version of "Child's Play" sadly, loses a lot of that charm, attempting to place the onus of the murderous doll on a AI gone rogue (it's basically a Terminator/Skynet in the body of a doll). The creepiness of the doll remains, but the rest of the story is barely serviceable, and sadly without much humor. It's also a film where sadly none of the characters have much time to develop relationships between each other, which means that at some point, as events unfold, these friendships/rivalries are quickly set in motion as a means to get the story to its end. Mark Hamill does a serviceable work with Chucky's voice, but doesn't compare to what Brad Dourif has done in the previous films (or for that matter, Jennifer Tilly, who has played Chucky's bride, Tiffany). The cast is quite talented, but sadly have nothing much to do. A missed opportunity to reinvigorate this franchise.
What made the original "Child's Play" so interesting and iconic, was not its supernatural component (the serial killer in the body of an innocent doll), but the sense of humor behind the perversity of its concept. It has been a concept that Don Mancini has smartly finessed, as the series has continued, embracing its B-movie aspect, amplifying its dark humor and surreal plot lines. This new version of "Child's Play" sadly, loses a lot of that charm, attempting to place the onus of the murderous doll on a AI gone rogue (it's basically a Terminator/Skynet in the body of a doll). The creepiness of the doll remains, but the rest of the story is barely serviceable, and sadly without much humor. It's also a film where sadly none of the characters have much time to develop relationships between each other, which means that at some point, as events unfold, these friendships/rivalries are quickly set in motion as a means to get the story to its end. Mark Hamill does a serviceable work with Chucky's voice, but doesn't compare to what Brad Dourif has done in the previous films (or for that matter, Jennifer Tilly, who has played Chucky's bride, Tiffany). The cast is quite talented, but sadly have nothing much to do. A missed opportunity to reinvigorate this franchise.
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