Upgrade Reviews

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I knew so little about the movie before watching it that I didn’t even know that it was taking place in the future but since I have a weak spot for such SF movies, it was a nice surprise. Eventually, even if it was maybe nothing really original, I have to admit that I turned out to actually fairly entertaining after all. Indeed, by now, I have seen my share of slick futuristic features but it looked decent enough. And it was pretty much the same concerning this cybernetic upgrades, it was nothing really new but it didn’t bother me. Concerning Lorgan Marshall-Green, I have nothing against the guy but he always seemed to be some kind of cheap version of Tom Hardy. The comparison with Hardy gets even weirder when his new best friend in this movie turned out to be some kind of polite high-tech version of Venom. Anyway, in spite of my silly grudge against Marshall-Green, I have to admit that he was actually pretty good here. Indeed, he pretty much carried the whole thing on his shoulders and he was always quite convincing. Concerning the story itself, I wish that the whole attack at the beginning would have been random because the twist at the end was actually fairly predictable. However, I have to admit that it didn’t except such a seriously grim ending, Leigh Wannel definitely displayed some guts to end up this way and it was much appreciated. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to to a really solid and entertaining B feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

I enjoyed this film. However, with that said, the film ends with a very pessimistic message, or from another perspective, one serious warning to all human beings. As a side note, after having watched this film, I began wondering if it might be that for current human mind it is easier to imagine pessimistic futures rather than optimistic ones. Both futures, pessimistic and optimistic, either of them can happen. And the pessimistic ones are much more likely to happen if we don't have the optimistic ones. The pessimistic future there in the film is one of those futures that can happen. However so, as you are about to notice, my strong conviction tells that we should try to figure out more of the optimistic ones, to put our minds to work to paint optimistic futures more and therefore less pessimistic ones as our resources are more occupied imagining the optimistic futures instead, and to work to make them happen as the next step. Now, with all that said, the film Upgrade, this film shows legit concerns about the case such as when artificial general intelligence is finally created. The book, At The Edge, which I Henry Mastz have written, is going to give a solution to the problem that we all face, - the problem that the film Upgrade well illustrated, to prevent happening what the film Upgrade brilliantly emphasized. The solution will be to make the upgrade to our own intelligence of our own instead, inside in our own consciousness. This upgrade to our consciousness needs to be smooth segue-way of upgrades of narrow artificial intelligence systems. In the case of the film Upgrade, there were two general intelligence systems (or consciousnesses) trapped in one body, one was much less capable and other was much more capable, and there was competition for control (and the less aware system had no chance of gaining control in that case as it was well illustrated). If there would only be one general intelligence, like there are in our brains right now, there would be no such sense that somebody is killed off or switched off from the control of movement of purpose.

I've had a soft spot for Leigh Whannel since he broke onto the scene as the writer of the first three Saw films then went on to get creative with other fare as Dead Silence, Cooties, and, most notably, the damned great Insidious series. However, the trailer for Upgrade left me somewhere between interested and rolling my eyes. Coupled with his decent but comparatively lackluster first outing as a director for Insidious 3, I was ready to write this off as one I'd "catch later". Boy, am I glad I saw it on the big screen!

I should of known better, of course. So far, even at his weakest, Whannel has offered up extremely enjoyable and morbidly creative takes on horror. Thankfully, Upgrade is Whannell firing on all cylinders as he takes on a techno thriller that bridges the gaps between sci-fi, action, and body horror. The results are a freakin' blast.

Imagine Robocop put through a Cronenberg grinder if Cronenberg was more preoccupied with thrills and AI paranoia...then add a healthy dab of action. Throw in a dash of viscera, a spritz of cautionary tale, a slice of revenge story, and some moral dilemmas and you have Upgrade.

A man rendered disabled by an orchestrated accident is made subject of groundbreaking technology that allows him to regain his ability to move but also maximizes his potential. That is until he realizes that the tech is sentient and more than willing to help him solve the mystery behind his accident.

The movie brings so many influences together into a taut little package that moves at steady clip and keeps you on the edge of your seat while still managing to warn us about the potential dangers of embracing technology without proper precaution. The action is brutal, the score reminiscent of a great 80's synth score, and the creative twists and turns are what Whannell flourishes most at.

Highly recommended. One of the most fun flicks I've seen thus far this year at the theater.