Also checked out the new Child’s Play remake. Most remakes occur after a movie or series has been dormant for a half a decade at least… but the Child’s Play movies are still in production (even if only direct to video) so its odd a different group has rebooted the franchise.
So the new Child’s Play takes the original killer doll concept (which involved a serial killer and an occult ritual to bring the doll to life) and turns it into pure science fiction. Chucky is now a smart home hub who can control other devices on the network. Basically it’s like a Nest connected home mixed with Amazon Alexa mixed with Teddy Ruxpin. The specific doll / AI in question had its safety measures disengages by a disgruntled worker… so Chucky is kind of just a bad program trying to work out how to achieve its core program of keeping its owner safe and happy. It’s kind of like if HAL from 2001 was devoted to a child.
It’s questionable how intelligent the doll really is or if its just running an algorithm. And that’s one point where this ambitious film runs into problems… it’s not written well enough to really make that clear. It’s got ideas about home automation and the Siri’s and Alexa’s of the world listening to us at all times… but it doesn’t have anything to say about it. This is one of those movies where I’m actively rewriting the script, punching it up with better ideas. You never want to have to do that!
Other problems persist… the movie seems to want to be a dark comedy but I only really picked up those vibes half way through. And then it was never consistent. Plus it has some very mean spirited (and gory) kills that were probably meant to be in good sadistic fun. But they can’t nail the tone and they are darker and more awful than probably intended.
On the plus side, the finale, set at the launch of Chucky 3.0, involves a lot of wi-fi connected drones and alternate Chucky designs that was kind of approaching a good time at the theater. The movie finally finds a tone and good use of its wi-fi “internet of things” concept. It’s too late to save the movie but at least it ends well.
I like the changes they made to the core Chucky idea… but the movie would have been better if it wasn’t actually called “Child’s Play”. The ideas they are working with would have been better without a central robotic toy. If it was just it’s own unique take on haywire AI, it’d be able to distance itself from a cult classic and the inevitable comparisons. This isn’t an utter disaster of a movie – it has good ideas and a fun ending – but it’s not enough to save it.
Score: 64