265.
Child's Play
6.5/10
I have finally gotten around to speaking about the movie that I watched on Netflix when I typed in the letter C. Work has slowly started to take over my life recently and this review is delayed more than most of the movie due out in 2022. I can barely remember watching the version from 1988 and have seen only scenes from any sequel that came afterward. This time I'm going to tackle the 2019 remake which came to the cinema for a week before it got pulled from my local. I haven't heard the greatest of things but horror is horror and I'm willing to give it a go. No-one stands out within the cast I witness on the first glace as Audrey Plaza who plays the mother, is someone I have only heard by name and the cop who lives next door is played by Brian Tyree Henry is a face I recognise but don't ask me from what movie. After looking a little deeper, there was a reason for some excitement. Mark Hamill is going to be voicing Chuckie and although you may associate him with Luke Skywalker, you should really get in there and witness him voicing the Joker in The Batman animated series or The Batman console games. Let's find out is the toy was worth the price.
If we just have a quick run-through of the storyline, it's hardly worth getting into too much detail. It's a very very generic storyline as the movie begins with a bunch of pissed of Asians working in a sweatshop and one of them turns off the safety protocols on one of the Buddy dolls before killing himself. Nice bloke. As you can imagine, the doll finds it's way to Audrey Plaza's shop after it's returned for being faulty and she takes it home to her son Andy, who is struggling to adapt to their new flat. Audrey has already met a bloke, who isn't exactly great and we can guess what's going to happen to him. We watch Andy try to make friends whilst always resorting back to Chuckie. The doll is starting to show some signs of free will, which at first Andy loves but when the scratches Andy and Chucky takes offense, it isn't long until it's cut into pieces and being dumped down the trash shoot. Chucky has brought some friends about for Andy, who are more interesting in the doll really but friends all the same. Things start to escalate as Chucky witnesses Andy's Mom's boyfriend man handling Andy and heads over to his house and kills him in a very gruesome scene before taking off his face and bringing it home as a present for Andy.
As the conventional story continues, we see Andy battling to control his robot, try to explain to his friends that he is evil and even his own mother is very very skeptical about her son. He has made friends with the cop down the corridor and his elderly mother, who is next on the list for Chucky as he witnesses her telling Andy she can be his best friend. This death is the last straw for Andy and he rips Chucky to pieces and puts him in the trash shoot. Unfortunately, the creepy janitor finds him, puts him back together and meets his untimely death. Now the cop upstairs is getting suspicious, Andy has been acting like a bit of a loon and behind the scenes, the toy company is actually bringing out a whole range of these dolls. Andy's mother has had enough of his shit now and drags him to work with here, just as they are releasing the new dolls.
Norris the neighbourly cop has determined that little Andy is the murderer and heads over to the toy store himself, just in time for Chucky to have switched the other dolls into murderous toys. A lot of people get sliced and Chucky turns on the lockdown of the shop, leaving just a few remaining inside, scrambling for their lives. Norris, the cop is sliced and diced by a drone with blades attached to the fans. Gutted about this because he was a good character who I thought would have saved the day, being a great character arch as he still lives with Mom, isn't very respected in his community and had been investigating the murders. This leaves Andy alone to look for his mother. Chucky as dragged her to the back, tied her up and is using her as bait for Andy. After a tussle and what Andy thinks is a winning blow, he goes to untie his mother but Chucky, with the most demented look on his face and knife in his hand, flies through the air at Andy before being shot down.
My first thought is that the Mother got free and somehow found a gun. No, no, Norris is still alive somehow and it's one-shot kill as Chucky drops from the sky and stabbed through the power core. Mother and son embrace before she is put on a stretcher, the same as Norris and they have a little moment as the scene cuts. We have a statement from the toy company, recalling all dolls but as they are put into storage, one of the Buddy doll's eyes light red, suggesting that Chucky managed to transfer his AI somehow. The movie ends with Mark Hamill singing Buddi's song and if you get the chance to experience the creepiness, do it!
I'm not too sure if they expected this to be a cornerstone for reviving this franchise but I'm don't think it will go down too well. I enjoyed most of the movie. Yes, the storyline was very predictable apart from Norris coming back from the dead to an extent but it was a little bit of a 'tongue in cheek' horror that brought a little humour to the screen. Each time you met a character or someone said something bad, you always knew they would be at the end of a knife. This took a little enjoyment away from the movie but when you're not expecting a masterpiece and are just in the mood for a popcorn horror, you can easily forgive the writers. The doll was a strange look for a while compared to what you've come to know as Chucky and it took a while for the look to become very rough towards the end.
There's an extent where you could say this is just another horror movie cast of youngsters that may not be seen again but there were some redeeming features in this one. I enjoyed Brian Tyree Henry's character as the Cop Norris. There was a good guy factor about him and you wanted him to save the day. When I thought he was dead, I was disappointed when I thought they had killed him off. When he came back, I think I uttered the words 'Hell yeah', like some kind of Yank. That's the sign that a good job was done. The true highlight through the casting has to be Mark Hamill as Chucky. Such a mischievous voice in play and someone who could switch their attitude very quickly, which was needed in this movie and each time, you could tell the tone of voice was getting more evil each time. This guy is like a fine wine and does well when turning to the dark side.
I came into this movie not hearing the best things. This gave me an idea of not going in expecting a masterpiece but to be entertained for what it is. There was a lot more humour than I had anticipated but because I wasn't in the mood to take this too seriously, it really did help with the enjoyment levels. It would be interesting to see if this goes any further, even if it's just something picked up by Netflix or just straight to DVD is more of a realistic option. This makes me want to go back and experience the originals though and maybe that can be seen as a good thing or a bad thing.
