Can we just say it? Whannell WOWS!
UPGRADE is a mind-blowing cinematic experience, not only as a high-polish visual stunner with lush production design, but with a story that is conceptually exciting and fascinating.
Best known to date as one of the creative forces behind the “Saw” and “Insidious” franchises, as well as playing the beloved “Specs”, right hand to Lin Shaye’s “further-delving” Elise Ranier throughout “Insidious” saga, writer/director Leigh Whannell now goes further within himself, digging deeper into his own talents to pull out all the stops and deliver UPGRADE. Written and directed by Whannell, UPGRADE pushes the envelope not only with action but on a philosophical level in the ever-raging battle of man vs. machine.
A mind-blowing cinematic experience, UPGRADE is not only a visual stunner with high polish and some lush production design thanks to cinematographer Stefan Duscio and Production Designer Felicity Abbott, but it’s Whannell’s story and philosophical conceptualization that is beyond exciting.
Here we meet Grey Trace. A lover of all things old school living in a not-too-distant-world of computerized artificiality (and in many respects, the here and now), Grey accepts the hi-tech work of his wife Asha as part of existence, but for him it will never replace the sensory experience of getting your hands dirty with real work and a hands-on existence. Thanks to a brutal assault on the couple, Asha is killed and Grey is left a quadriplegic. But what if Grey’s physical functionality could be restored? What if he could be made whole again by the very technology he rages against? Approached by a genius billionaire who doesn’t look old enough to ride a bicycle let alone develop an artificial intelligence implant system known as S.T.E.M., Grey must face his darkest demons and fears. Does he remain in his paralyzed state or accept the technology that will allow him to seek vengeance against those who murdered his wife? And of course, everything has a price attached.
This ideology of man versus machine and their interdependence/co-dependence is beyond compelling and thought-provoking. Man needs machines. No matter how hands on one may want to be, you still need a machine in this day and age, be it a computer or a drone, or in the case of Grey – STEM, but where do you draw the line on integration and implementation. Where does the point become where man ceases to be man and becomes machine – be it through robotic surgeries and enhancements or simply by not using his own brain? Whannell explores this and more with a script that twists and turns and takes you down the rabbit hole with a full sensory experience.
One of the most striking aspects of UPGRADE is not only the physically stilted, post-STEM insertion robotic performance of Logan Marshall-Green as Grey, but then the lensing and post-production work on the fight scenes in which he is involved, particularly when STEM takes over the functionality of Grey’s body. Adding to the contrasting physical movement and limitations, Marshall-Green’s speech cadence often matches the stilted nature of his physicality. An analog man in a computerized and robotic world, it’s an interesting performance parallel.
The most chilling performance, however, comes courtesy of Benedict Hardie as militant leader Fisk, an almost robotic modern-day Adolph Hitler come to life. Not only genius with hair and make-up to give the Hitler visual, but Fisk’s philosophy and a frightening third act dialogue about the “master race” of the robotically engineered human bodies adds a whole new philosophical level to Whannell’s story.
I first saw took note of Harrison Gilbertson in “Need for Speed”. The innocence of his facial expressiveness drew you into his role as Little Pete in that film. Here, as computer genius Eron, with the Dennis the Menace bleached blonde hair and the computerized vacant blue eyes, compounding by the emoting and projection of a very innocent and insecure persona facially and in body movement and language, Gilbertson mesmerizes and frightens at the same time.
Cinematography is, in a word, gorgeous. Lensing of certain specific scenes, however, are even more spectacular and emotionally charged, particularly a sequence in the Old Bones bar. Cinematographer Stefan Duscio’s lighting and use of neon punctuated with varied and eclectic camera angles, fuels the fire and energy. Only familiar with Duscio’s prior work with “Backtrack” which starred Adrien Brody and Sam Neill, with UPGRADE he just WOWS! (There’s that word WOW again.) From the angular intimacy within the computer car which creates edges and angles mimicking the octagonal/hexagonal shapes of the car construction to the wide lensing of Grey’s home to Eron’s lair and then on to the small drape-diffused sunlight of a killer’s home, the framing fits each character and the action unfolding. But it also fits the story and tacitly defines who each individual player is. From a production design standpoint, the warehouse lair of Jamie and the VR gang is beyond cool and is showcased to perfection by Duscio’s lensing – floor level, wide angle, almost fish-eye with upward dutching. Looks like a crackhouse in any big city town and Whannell keenly has Grey make a remark about the VR guys looking like they’re on crack. The minutiae and metaphor of this film is dazzling. And then there’s the lighting, with each bulb or light panel adding it’s own descriptors and definitions to the story. Every scene is beautifully, and purposefully, lit. Use of spotlights, be it on police drones in the sky or the spotlight in Eron’s home as he shows off STEM or on the operating table or in Grey’s own kitchen where the counter spotlight showcases the robotic limbs, the metaphor and connective tissue of the spotlights with robotics is fabulous.
But the real artistic champion in UPGRADE is the sound design. Beyond impressive. The ambient sounds in the backgrounds, the engine roars, the drip of water from the interior waterfall designs in the concrete design of Asha and Grey’s home as well as Eron’s underground lair, the distinction between the sound of the muscle dual carb roar of Grey’s Trans Am versus the robotic drone roars. . .the specificity of individual sounds which are then layered together with dialogue and score and then added atop the underlying nuanced cacophony is just exquisite. Whannell and his sound team truly make UPGRADE a sonic sensory experience – and visual – as if compensating for the quadriplegic state of Grey post-accident. He heightens the reality that comes with sound, juxtapositioning it against the unreality and falseness of the computer world.
The icing on the cake is Jed Palmer’s techno vibe scoring.
But this story. This concept. This ideology of man versus machine and their interdependence is so compelling, so thought-provoking, evoking and inviting discussion long after the curtain falls. Leigh Whannell has upgraded storytelling with UPGRADE. A perfect blend of action, terror and sci-fi which not only entertains, but makes us think.
Written and Directed by Leigh Whannell
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Benedict Hardie, Harrison Gilbertson
by debbie elias, 05/16/2018
