Underrated Gems: Upgrade

 

Upgrade is the perfect example of being an underrated film. I’ve heard of it since seeing the trailer that was attached to the comic book film Deadpool 2. The whole idea looked very interesting, especially since it came from Blumhouse Studios and an up and coming director Leigh Wendell. It took a long time to finally have a chance to watch it since it wasn’t showing in my respective hometown’s theater. Black Friday rolled around the Best Buy and I finally had a chance to watch it. Bottom line, I love it. SPOILERS will appear in the review. 

1. Story

        Since the film takes place in the not too distant future in an unnamed city. A mechanic named Grey Trace played by Logan Marshall-Green is fixing up an old Pontiac Thunderbird to deliver to an industrialist. He has his wife Asha help him deliver the car. We learn that Grey is very hesitant on technology. Grey and his wife meet the customer named Eron played by Harrison Gilbertson, who is so socially maladjusted that he probably has autism. 

        When they go back home, their automatic car takes them in a different direction. Grey tries to take control but the car crashes in the homeless part of the city. Three assassins kill Asha and paralyze Grey, making him a quadriplegic. He is gifted mechanical arms in his house to help him. Grey tries to kill himself and is sent to the hospital. Eron visits him and tells him he has something that can help him. 

        The young inventor calls the chip STEM which can help Grey regain control of his limbs. We later learn that STEM has a voice and helps Grey find the killers who murdered his wife. The film is very straightforward and kind of short. It never drags in certain areas and has an interesting world that is reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s film Minority Report. Logan Marshall-Green does a great job of the main character. Although, the artificial intelligence steals the show. 

2. Stem

        This plucky and inquisitive A.I. steals the show and is the surprise villain of the film. Voiced by Simon Maiden, STEM is sort of like Jarvis in the Iron Man and Marvel Cinematic Universe films, where he can access info on the fly. It gives the impression that Grey can access his limbs. What is interesting is that the program follows through with Grey’s plan at revenge. 

        As the film goes on, it learns self-defense. Such as killing a hired murderer by slicing his jaw. The whole relationship is very symbiotic since Grey needs STEM to help him. As well as STEM giving Grey instructions to lie to detective Cortez played by Betty Gabriel. The whole shots of STEM gaining control is very interesting. The camera is focused on Grey but its very fixed. Especially when the action scenes happen and when Grey ducks, the camera tracks him.

        What I didn’t see coming is that it slowly took over Grey’s conscious and mind. It became apparent that STEM told Eron to find Grey as a potential host. It’s very Twilight Zone-esque, with the overall approach being a monkey’s paw. It’s even more messed up by having STEM send Grey’s conscious to a altered reality where his wife survived. While the program controls his body.

3. Control

        With all being established, the whole film is about control. I feel that the word should be at least an alternate title to the film. For one thing, Grey wants to have revenge for his wife’s death but he doesn’t actually want to kill anyone. STEM tells him that it can kill the murderers while Grey looks away. 

        Earlier, it’s established that Grey is very apprehensive about automation since he likes having control with what he does. He is seen driving a vintage Pontiac Thunderbird and is very apprehensive with the Tesla like car. I think it’s a general fear since with everything being high tech, anything can happen and we wouldn’t know what to do. It’s shown that as Grey is being spied on by Cortez, STEM hacks an autonomous car that it controls the vehicle to crash to the police detective. 

4. Upgrade v. Venom

        I think the damning thing is that an inferior film such as Venom, which came out later in 2018, outperformed Upgrade. Having seen the other film, it’s based on an established character in Spider-Man comics, but overall is just not a good film. I think the reason why the former underperformed was that it wasn’t shown everywhere. 

        It never even gotten a TV ad. As a reminder, I only saw a trailer in the summer. I think it’s a big problem that not a big studio got the distribution rights of the film. Or not enough money to shell out its marketing to get many general audiences to see the film. The main thing is that an established character that is an inferior film beat out a slightly original film with a neat story by a large margin. 

5. Overall

        This film is one of the definitions for being an underrated film. It’s an interesting action revenge film that focuses on the technology and loss of control. Director Leigh Wendell is an up and coming director and he nailed this film. Just earlier, he directed The Invisible Man, which is one of 2020’s best horror film. He is slowly becoming the next big director at the rate of success he’s maintaining so far. Upgrade is a pleasant surprise and I hope people will see this great film more. 

        Upgrade gets a four out of five.