Upgrade is a stylish wannabe twenty-first century Philip k dick novel about a quadriplegic who gets a second chance at life when a rich scientist offers him a beta tester of his newest invention STEM: A system based computer program designed to act as a human brain.
A nod to film: A nod to The Matrix. A nod to Blade Runner. A nod to Death Wish.
Upgrade is too ambitious of a feat with no sold direction to aim my interest or tack to a specific genre. Looks good as a sci-fi film (Upgrade did not skimp on ignore the visual effects). Action: well done. But the horror and thrill usually associated with a Blumhouse title is where Upgrade misses the mark.
This film lacks the promise of Happy Death Day, which took the slasher film and made what was expected to be a generic ripoff to Groundhog Day, an entertaining and creative experience.
I hoped the same for Upgrade: that Blumhouse would bring something new to the genre. However, this film was more of the same tech meets Darwin without much to say about the merit and consequences AIG pose to the frailty of human existence as computers continue to evolve.