Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
When the first promotional material came out for the new Child’s Play everyone was giving it a hard time because Buddi looked super weird and creepy, but Director Lars Klevberg uses that to play into the campiness of this new ridiculous, over-the-top, and occasionally hilarious take on Chucky, the new Child’s Play. It changes the origin story of Chucky enough to make it modern, while making it more believable, who are we kidding here voodoo – really? The real standout of the Movie though, not shockingly, is the voice of Chucky himself, Mark Hamill.
The Movie introduces us to the mother-son duo of Karen (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy (Gabriel Bateman) as they have recently moved to a new part of town and Andy is struggling to make friends or fit in. We soon find out that Karen works at Zed Mart which is preparing the launch for Buddi 2 and manages to get her hands on a Buddi for her son Andy shortly after. This is where we start to get to know our new Chucky much more and things start to pick up.
What makes this version of Child’s Play so entertaining is how absolutely devilishly creepy Mark Hamill can be, without doing any more than just being Mark Hamill. There is something so genuinely sinister about his cadence and delivery of lines and the Buddi song, which will send chills down your spine. Aubrey Plaza who is usually up to standard, delivers another enjoyable performance nailing Karen, who is a working-class mom trying to make the most out of her life and Andy’s life while still trying to have some fun. Gabriel Bateman who just recently appeared on the scene definitely shows some promise with his performance and could very well have a prosperous future for himself.
Moreover, the Social Commentary presented in Child’s Play may be the most horrifying thing about the Movie. Buddi is Animatronic in this rendition of the Movie and can connect to all other Kaslan products, for example, the TV, the Vacuum, Thermostat, etc. anything that is connected in your Smart Home can be now controlled by your Buddi. If that is not an metaphor to how dependent we have become on modern technology, and how much we crave simplicity in controlling all of our products then I don’t know what is.
To be perfectly clear Child’s Play is not frightening, it is not going to scare the bejesus out of you, yes there is a jump scare here and there, but the Movie is 110% campy, obscenely-violent (when it picks up) and as expected, a whole ton of fun. Child’s Play can be described as a Horror-Comedy that is not so much trying to reinvent the wheel, as it is throwing some new rims on an 88’ Cadillac.
Elevation Pictures release CHILD’S PLAY in theatres on Friday, June 21, 2019.
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