Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, “Upgrade” brings the story of life in a not-so-distant future dystopian society where technology controls more parts of our lives than not. Technophobe Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green – Spider-Man: Homecoming, Prometheus) spends most of his time working on classic cars and selling those that he restores while his wife works in the tech sector. One night while they are out delivering one of his works to a tech guru, something happens with their self-driving car that leads them to an unsavory area where his wife is killed and he is paralyzed. His tech customer Eron (Harrison Gilbertson – Need for Speed, Fallen) visits him in the hospital with an offer of an experimental computer chip implant which not only enables him to walk again, but its artificial intelligence teams up with Grey to exact his revenge.
This is an independent film that is worth the trip to the theater to see. The cinematography reminds me of ‘80s sci-fi with its dark, gritty, visuals that border on depressing which falls in line with its script, getting darker as the tale itself becomes darker. The choreography on the fight scenes is well done accompanied by a bit of gore, so be forewarned here. Also, keep an eye on Logan Marshall-Green’s facial expressions after the implant is put in his body, as there are some moments of absolute brilliance especially when combined with how he is moving his body.