Upgrade

This violent, but darkly comic, sci-fi action thriller manages to feel fresh and inventive, while also feeling like a nostalgic throwback to the sci-fi action greats of the 80’s, like Robocop.  Already considered a below-the-radar cult classic in the making, this is well worth checking out.

Premise:  In the near future, mechanic Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) is offered an experimental neural implant after a violent robbery results in his wife’s death and leaves Grey quadriplegic and suicidal.  The implant not only gives Grey back the use of his limbs, but also gives him the tools to start tracking down the killers, after the police fail to find any leads.

Review:

I must admit, Upgrade completely passed me by when it was released in 2018, and I didn’t hear about it properly until word-of-mouth started to build about it months later.  Then I watched The Invisible Man, writer/director Leigh Whannell’s 5-star masterpiece (and one of my favourite films of 2020), and so I decided that I really needed to check out his previous film, Upgrade.

And I’m very glad that I did.  Just as The Invisible Man is more than it first appears (pun intended), in that it’s more of a thriller about abusive relationships and gas-lighting than it is a cheap “monster movie”, Upgrade is much more than its simple Death Wish style revenge premise would suggest.  The problem is, I really don’t want to say too much about the specifics, as seeing how the story unfolds in unexpected ways is part of the joy of discovering this film for yourself.

“…skilfully balances its tone between shocking violence & black comedy…”

What I will say is that Leigh Whannell is shaping up to be quite a director; his films are not just beautifully shot, with plenty of interesting shots and visual elements, but he’s also a master of judging tone.  Just as The Invisible Man did a fantastic job of fostering an atmosphere of paranoia and desperation, Upgrade skilfully balances its tone between moments of shocking violence, mysterious thriller elements, and outright black comedy.  And most surprisingly of all, there are times when all three of these tones are present in a single scene, where the audience is shocked by the violence, thrilled by the mystery, and laughing at the black comedy of the horrific situation.  Not an easy task for any director, but Leigh Whannell pulls it off.

The way Leigh Whannell chose to shoot the action sequences in this film was also a brilliant creative decision.  When Grey (Logan Marshall-Green) uses the “STEM” implant’s abilities to help him perform physical feats that he would never have been capable of previously, the camera pivots through the action in a way that is both graceful and mechanical, like a robotic arm on a production line, effortlessly and fluidly twisting and turning to get the job done as efficiently as possible.  It gives the action sequences a distinct look and feel that is unlike anything I have seen before.

“…an intelligent, action-packed & darkly comic cult hit-in-the-making, from a hugely talented writer/director…”

Upgrade was a low-budget film shot in Australia (doubling for America), which is why (with the exception of Logan Marshall-Green) it stars a cast of relatively unknowns.  This actually helps with the thriller elements of the plot, as you don’t know what’s going on or who you can trust, because you don’t instantly recognise familiar actors as normally playing good guys or bad guys, or as being too famous for a supposedly incidental role.  Logan Marshall-Green himself does a fantastic job of all but carrying the film himself, given that the story is told from his character’s perspective and I think he’s in pretty much every scene.  He’s certainly more than up to the task of juggling the emotional, physical and humorous aspects of the role.

All in all, Upgrade is a little rough around the edges, and sometimes the budget limitations are fairly obvious – but look passed all of that, and you have an intelligent, action-packed and darkly comic cult hit-in-the-making from a hugely talented writer/director.  After seeing Upgrade and The Invisible Man, I can’t wait to see what Leigh Whannell does next.