As I’m sure is the case for most people who have seen this
film, I was mainly looking forward to it because it has Mark Hamill in it. For
someone so insanely talented at voice-acting, it still feels like he’s going
unappreciated for his work, and he’s pretty much the only person I could see
filling Brad Dourif’s shoes as everyone’s favourite psychotic toy. However,
while he is definitely a good fit for Chucky as one would expect, he’s been
thrown a bit of a curveball because this isn’t the Chucky you might remember.
The days of Charles Lee Ray and his voodoo shenanigans and
wanting to literally possess the body of a child are gone. In an immediate
showing that this film’s idea for rebooting was onto something, the Buddy dolls
this time around are more than just playthings for children. In fact, the Buddi
dolls are essentially smart toys, designed to function with every other bit of
technology around the house; like Google Home in a doll’s body. What this does
is abandon quite a bit of the supernatural silliness that made the original
Child’s Play films fun, but also proffers its own series of scary propositions.
For one, the result of Chucky’s descent into murderous
villainy is the result of him doing what every smart device does: Learning from
the humans that use it. Specifically, this film’s version of Andy, played very
nicely by Gabriel Bateman, whom the doll literally imprints on. As the doll
observes his loner ways, his dislike of his mother’s boyfriend, and his need
for a friend, the doll basically does what it is programmed to do and fulfill
that need. Including getting rid of anyone who would get between them.
Once Chucky starts to go full Skynet, the film turns into a
delightfully gory collection of set pieces that, while quite creepy in places,
basically functions as splatstick with how incredibly over-the-top it can get.
It basically turns the original voodoo into omnipresent control of technology,
and ends up with the same effect as we see table saws, other Buddi dolls and
even an entire store under Chucky’s control. And as captured by Brendan
Uegama’s vivid colours and Bear McCreary once again pulling his weight in eerie
soundtracks, it is incredibly entertaining.
This in spite of the fact that, even with its previous
iteration, it’s somehow even tougher to buy the Buddi doll as a legit toy that
someone would design in good faith. Now, while the original Chucky is
well-remembered as the epitome of evil doll, he also fit into a decent niche as
far as children’s toys actually being disturbing if you really look at them.
It’s the kind of creepy you can understand a company running with, much like
Baby Laugh-A-Lot and other such nightmare fuel. The redesign? Not so much. It
looks like a face mask planted onto a smaller toy, and while the facial
movements seem legit for what it is, it smacks somewhat in the face of how much
the story around him ends up rationalising why this toy concept would still be
kicking around.
But beyond that, this is a surprisingly solid retooling of a
cult classic horror property. The characters work nicely, although admittedly
only Andy and his mother end up with genuine characters to play with, the
visual aesthetic lets the mood and the blood spray stand out well, and while
the physical redesign may not be all that great, the way Chucky’s origin was
reworked not only makes it relevant for the current market, it might actually
make him creepier.
The original Chucky was the result of one lucky
nutter who managed to put his soul into an inanimate object. This one is the
result of one worker having enough of his boss’ shit and deciding to mess with
the programming. A toy that, despite having his limitations removed, was only
doing what it was designed for: Looking after its owner and being their best
friend. With how many horror remakes out there completely drop the ball in justifying their own existence, this one does much better than most.
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