Having just watched UPGRADE for the second time, the first
when it came out, I can confirm that this was one of the best science fiction
movies to come out in some time. It was original, it was fresh and it did some
things we haven’t seen before in a movie while at the same time harkening back
to the warning films of the past about dealing with artificial intelligence.
In the near future nearly everything is automated. Homes,
even in the low rent district, come equipped with computers implanted in the
coffee table. Most people ride in automated cars. Grey Trace (Logan
Marshall-Green) is a throwback to the old days though, a time when working on a
car meant getting grease under your nails. Grey makes his living restoring old
cars for wealthy owners.
He gets his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo) to accompany him
when he takes his latest repair to its owner. Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson)
is a billionaire inventor. He shows the couple his latest invention, an AI
system named STEM. It can function faster than the human brain and if implanted
he expects it to work miracles.
On their way home the Trace’s automated car malfunctions and
takes them to the old neighborhood Grey grew up in, an unsavory part of town. The
car flips and crashes and help seems to arrive. But those on hand aren’t there
to help but to do damage. They shoot and kill Asha and shoot Grey in the spine
leaving him immobile.
Saved and still alive Grey later finds himself a
quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. His mother stops in to help him in his
fully automated home. A detective Cortez (Betty Gabriel) is assigned to his
case attempting to find the killers but with little luck in spite of roaming
drones around the city. Despondent Grey attempts suicide.
When he wakes in the hospital Eron is there to greet him and
offers him his condolences. He then makes him an offer. If he’s willing to keep
it quiet and off the books Eron will implant STEM into him. If it works as
intended he will recover the ability to walk. The surgery works and Grey
returns home. And that’s when things begin to turn.
STEM communicates with Grey inside his head. While Grey has
been watching surveillance video of the shooting he experienced he couldn’t see
anything. STEM can see more though and finds a tattoo on the arm of one of the
killers. Grey allows STEM to control his hand and draws the image. With no
evidence to back this up and unable to let the police know about STEM he tracks
down the first killer.
When confronted by the killer who gives him little
information about what took place Grey looks as if he’s about to be killed once
and for all when STEM asks permission to take control. Once granted Grey is
suddenly the most skilled person in the room. He stand straight up from a prone
position, he counters every move the killer makes and he takes him down with
ease. Before he can get any information STEM kills the man.
From there the movie progresses with an ease of storytelling
and believability that makes for a high quality science fiction story. Grey
continues to track down more clues and various people in an attempt to catch
the killers. But can he do so without killing them? Can he mount enough
evidence to put them away? Or will they realize what is happening and track him
down to eliminate him once and for all? And why was it they chose to kill Asha
and shoot him in the first place? What sinister plot is going on that we are
unaware of?
The few visual effects in the film are well done but the
movie doesn’t rely. But the effects of the hand to hand combat sequences are
amazing work here and all done with special effects. Still it is the story that
moves this film along and that takes it from the ordinary into the world of
science fiction. I know the end result was something I didn’t see coming and
for me that’s unusual and enjoyed.
The acting is amazing and honestly Marshall-Greene deserves
notice. He acts with his entire body here in his movements just walking across
a room or sitting up. It’s very subtle but effective. The rest of the cast does
a solid job as well but it is his presence that deserves attention.
The movie does offer some truly gore fueled moments not for
the squeamish but the rest provides excitement surrounding a solid story. To me
that’s what makes this one of my favorite films of last year.
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