UPGRADE Review

UPGRADE is a great surprise. I didn’t even know it was coming out until people mentioned it was in theaters, and I’m glad I went in blind. When I watched the trailer months later, I realized it gives away a lot of the movie. My advice: see the movie first and watch the trailer afterward.

The good: it’s a really well-shot movie with crisp action, and Logan Marshall-Green is amazing. When the AI takes control of his body during the fight scenes, you can see on his face that he has no control. He put a lot of effort into it, and it’s a better film because he’s in it. If you take one thing away from this movie, it’s his performance.

The story keeps moving and never slows down, and the roughly hour-and-a-half runtime is perfect. A lot of movies push for two hours and add layers of junk they don’t need. This one keeps its story flowing, and I’m happy for it.

The bad: besides the trailer spoiling a lot, the big late twist is easy to see coming. There’s a moment earlier that tips its hand, and once you notice it, you can figure out where things are headed. Part of the story is a little cliché, too. I did like the ending, though. Sometimes the villain needs to win, and it reminded me a little of Ex Machina. If they make a part two, I wouldn’t mind.

It’s a sleeper hit that didn’t get much marketing, and that’s probably a good thing, because more marketing would have spoiled even more.

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UPGRADE (2018) Cast and Details

UPGRADE (2018) is directed by Leigh Whannell and stars Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel and Harrison Gilbertson. It runs 100 minutes and is rated R. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Solo: A Star Wars Story review.