Child's Play ★★★☆☆ | Movie Review

Synopsis

Buddi dolls are the biggest hyped toy since Turbo Man, even a defective one can bring a little joy... or murder.

*I actually wouldn't watch any of the trailers if you intend to see the film, there's too much that's given away.

Review

After my enjoyment of including blanked out spoilers in my Toy Story 4 review I will be doing it again in this review with questions... some of my oh so many questions (and statements) after seeing Child's Play. I'll put it right at the bottom of the post so you don't even risk almost seeing it.

Karen and Andy have just moved into a new neighbourhood but Andy is reluctant to go out and meet new people, he'd much rather stay in the flat and play on his phone.

When a customer returns a faulty Buddi doll to her store, Karen decides to take it home as an early birthday present for Andy hoping it'll get him off his phone. He's a little glitchy when they activate him, he stutters and will only go by the name Chucky, but Andy and Chucky manage to make a connection while playing board games. Chucky's glitches mean that he can do what other Buddi dolls can't and that soon makes him popular with other kids in the building, but the more friends that Andy makes, the more annoyed Chucky becomes.

Having never seen a Chucky film in my life before I wasn't sure what to expect. It's safe to say that everyone knows the premise, but that doesn't give you a lot of background. For a while I thought I was supposed to be taking it seriously, but at a certain point (much like Brightburn) I ended up taking it for a comedy.

The very short set up for the movie felt a little odd and out of place. It shows us how Chucky is "born" into this world and I quite liked it despite it not really being the same tone as everything else. The ending also had this problem, but I'll come to that at the end because... logic.

I can't work out if I loved or hated this, and whether my enjoyment was because it was well done or ridiculous... I mean, was it well done BECAUSE it was ridiculous? That's how confused I am right now.

Anyway.

It basically ticks all the classic horror boxes. Things appearing/disappearing in the background, inexplicably obvious impending injuries/fatalities, tell the truth and no one is going to believe you until it's too late, my favourite ones.

The acting felt rather non-descript if I'm honest. Brian Tyree Henry as Detective Mike offered some good light relief, as well as Carlease Burke as his mum. Neither were treated particularly well by the outcome of the script. Detective Mike's final scenes felt at odds with the character we see at the beginning even taking into consideration the events leading up to it. Aubrey Plaza and Gabriel Bateman, as Karen and Andy Barclay, create a very consistent mother/son pairing, though neither part wowed me. You get everything you'd expect from the characters but for the parts aren't memorable at this point.

Chucky, voiced by Mark Hamill... I didn't even notice it was him, partly from the obvious reason that he's not on the screen, and mainly because the doll is just so distracting. I cannot see how this little monster tested well with focus groups.

The main reason to come and see this is surely the gore, plain and simple. Having the modern technology angle gives a lot of scope to the cast's various demises. Which was probably a godsend as they had to steer clear of existing death scenarios in the original due to where the copyright is held. This is yet another film that I wonder why they bothered with when the original contributors weren't onboard.

There's a lot of blood, guts and gore throughout the proceedings, though if you're looking for realistic then I would go elsewhere. While it's all "fun", the quality of what's being presented doesn't feel great... though just right for it as a comedy and not a horror.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I want to talk about the end. The opening sequence to the film felt very Small Soldiers, the ending felt very Stranger Things. Beatrice Kitsos was brilliant in the conclusion, she gets to kick ass and take control when all around her is falling apart. I like to think that's how I would react if I was in this same situation.

I can't say that I'd want to watch Child's Play again, but it was quite amusing... Although, coming home to a houseful of connected technology and the knowledge that your Google Home already has it in for you doesn't lead to a good night's sleep afterwards.

What you should do

I don't know if it's one for existing fans, but it's entertaining in a distressing kind of way. I don't think there's a massive need to see it on the big screen, maybe wait until it's on home release so you can panic about your technology coming to life and murdering you. If Amazon and Google were thinking ahead they'd set their equipment to react to lines from the film.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

Some of Chucky's ingenuity, I don't know how he managed to get around so quickly, clearly that's something we can all learn.

Spoilers below, highlight the section to reveal the white writing.

This is exactly Small Soldiers, who in their right mind would put chips that are capable of such atrocities in toys?!

What happened at the house of the woman who returned it?

Who stabs a knife into a chopping board? Just throw them at dartboards, pictures of your enemies, or tomatoes if you're Geena Davis.

Chucky playing cat recordings in the middle of the night... demonic little bastard.

You know Chucky is a little bit menacing... would you really shut him in a cupboard and potentially make him your enemy?

If the creepy ass super has cameras everywhere then surely he's seen Chucky being a menacing little bugger.

Who... what... why... surely table saws have no need to be wireless and connected to home systems.

That table saw also didn't look like it was deep enough to have cut through the super's leg.

I don't think I'd be happy having a car with seatbelts that were controlled by the onboard computer.

I honestly don't know how Chucky manages to do all the things he does without being seen, especially in the end superstore scenes.