STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Teenager Andy (Gabriel Bateman) receives a 'Buddi' doll for his birthday off his mom (Zahra Anderson.) Unbeknownst to either of them, however, the doll is programmed to replicate human behaviour (or something!) and develops the power to behave homicidally. Developing an overbearing attachment to Andy, Buddi enacts his own version of justice on Andy's abusive stepdad Henry (Tim Matheson) and the kids who don't accept him, leading to an apocalyptic finale.
An oft trotted out justification for this modern trend of 'reboots' of classic films from the 80s is the need to 'reimagine' them, and put a modern day spin on the film that went before. And so director Lars Klevberg has presented us with a 2019 version of the 1988 classic Child's Play, involving camera phones, the internet and all the other trappings of the present day. And in so doing, has presented us with a soulless, stupid film that no amount of open mindedness and 'not expecting it to be as good as the original' can overcome.
It's biggest mistake is completely underestimating everything that made the original work so well. The innocence and naievaty of the six year old Andy made him more believable, and the there was some genuine mystery as to whether he really was a disturbed child, or the Chucky doll was really alive. Here, Andy is just a typically bratty, spoiled teen, and its hard to see what appeal a doll like that would even have to a kid of that age. Instead of appearing scary in any way, everything about Buddi is laughable, most notably his annoying signature singing tune ("you are my buddy, my only friend...you are my buddy...until the end") that even plays over the bloody end credits. In the original, we knew Chucky was possessed by the soul of a serial killer (even though none of the characters did) so he could manipulate a young child to do his bidding, but there doesn't seem to be any discernible reason for this evil doll to be doing what it's doing.
The deaths in the original were short, swift and brutal, but in this nonsensical remake, they're overly laborious and ridiculously dragged out (to wit, the death of a central character involving Christmas lights and a lawnmower, whereas before simply knocking a character out a top storey window would suffice.) There was a touch of light humour here and there in the original, but here Klevberg seems to be trying to make it central to the script, awkwardly inserting it in during dramatic interludes in the film where it really has no place. Nobody talks, or acts, like a normal person would, given who they are or their situation, and its testament to how stupid and carelessly written the script is that it's like this.
If there was any doubt to the classical status of the original, this soulless, laughable remake is definitely it, one I'm glad I effectively saw for free on Netflix, and one I regret giving the benefit of the doubt to. *
Teenager Andy (Gabriel Bateman) receives a 'Buddi' doll for his birthday off his mom (Zahra Anderson.) Unbeknownst to either of them, however, the doll is programmed to replicate human behaviour (or something!) and develops the power to behave homicidally. Developing an overbearing attachment to Andy, Buddi enacts his own version of justice on Andy's abusive stepdad Henry (Tim Matheson) and the kids who don't accept him, leading to an apocalyptic finale.
An oft trotted out justification for this modern trend of 'reboots' of classic films from the 80s is the need to 'reimagine' them, and put a modern day spin on the film that went before. And so director Lars Klevberg has presented us with a 2019 version of the 1988 classic Child's Play, involving camera phones, the internet and all the other trappings of the present day. And in so doing, has presented us with a soulless, stupid film that no amount of open mindedness and 'not expecting it to be as good as the original' can overcome.
It's biggest mistake is completely underestimating everything that made the original work so well. The innocence and naievaty of the six year old Andy made him more believable, and the there was some genuine mystery as to whether he really was a disturbed child, or the Chucky doll was really alive. Here, Andy is just a typically bratty, spoiled teen, and its hard to see what appeal a doll like that would even have to a kid of that age. Instead of appearing scary in any way, everything about Buddi is laughable, most notably his annoying signature singing tune ("you are my buddy, my only friend...you are my buddy...until the end") that even plays over the bloody end credits. In the original, we knew Chucky was possessed by the soul of a serial killer (even though none of the characters did) so he could manipulate a young child to do his bidding, but there doesn't seem to be any discernible reason for this evil doll to be doing what it's doing.
The deaths in the original were short, swift and brutal, but in this nonsensical remake, they're overly laborious and ridiculously dragged out (to wit, the death of a central character involving Christmas lights and a lawnmower, whereas before simply knocking a character out a top storey window would suffice.) There was a touch of light humour here and there in the original, but here Klevberg seems to be trying to make it central to the script, awkwardly inserting it in during dramatic interludes in the film where it really has no place. Nobody talks, or acts, like a normal person would, given who they are or their situation, and its testament to how stupid and carelessly written the script is that it's like this.
If there was any doubt to the classical status of the original, this soulless, laughable remake is definitely it, one I'm glad I effectively saw for free on Netflix, and one I regret giving the benefit of the doubt to. *