Too Much Play in the New Child’s Play
It’s been a while since I have written a review so I will be keeping this relatively short. The other night while my fiancé and I were enjoying a few adult beverages and perusing Amazon Prime I realized we had yet to watch the newest iteration of the timeless horror classic Child’s Play. Now, for me growing up I had a weird relationship with the original films. While the movies themselves never actually scared me there was something about the character Chucky that always creeped me out a bit. It could have had something to do with my mother buying a Halloween decoration that was a small child wearing overalls and a white sheet over signifying it being a child ghost. (How F*$ked up is that?) But, I digress, The movie in conversation here is 2019’s Child’s Play. Despite using the title for a money grab with the exception of the main character Andy and the the doll being named Chucky, sorta, It has very little connection with the original iteration. That is however but a small taste of the problems that plague this movie.
Synopsis – After moving to a new city, young Andy Barclay receives a special present from his mother — a seemingly innocent Buddi doll that becomes his best friend. When the doll suddenly takes on a life of its own, Andy unites with other neighborhood children to stop the sinister toy from wreaking bloody havoc.
Review
When originally announced It seemed like the idea was to get away from the campiness that has bogged down the original film series and bring it back to the intended chill inducing horror that the original nearly captured. Unfortunately though I found myself giggling and calling out the absolute ridiculousness scene by scene. It’s a real shame too. The idea of a Alexa type product, called Kaslan in the film, being manipulated to think on it’s own is truly a worry for so many these days. In no small part thanks to movies like Terminator. Something one of the cookie cutter characters actually mention in a throw-away line.
The overall plot of the film, is simply that though. A disgruntled Vietnamese worker manipulates the microchip which is implanted inside the doll to be able to think on it’s own and do things the other dolls cannot. Chucky, voiced by the great Mark Hamill, becomes best buddies with Andy but when Andy starts to realize what Chucky is capable of in regards to violence. He attempts to discard him in the trash chute of his apartment building only to be found and rebuilt by a disturbed and peeping-tomish maintenance man.
The ridiculous nature of a toy like this being able to kill and murder so many comes down to the fact that every household and even Uber like companies are using Kaslan products. This gives Chucky the ability to tap into the mainframe and manipulate all of those products leading to an over the top third act of not one, not two but dozens of Chucky like dolls wreaking havoc on unsuspecting shoppers at a Department store.
Despite all the ridiculousness in the final act and the sub-parness of the rest of the film. I am shocked they didn’t really leave it open for a sequel. Yea there was a little nod of a possibility. But, let’s be real here. It would only be a poor rip off of the first film which was not all that good itself.
What’s disappointing is that this movie had potential, but if you are like me and have nothing better to do and you can watch it for free… Give it a shot. You will most likely come out aggravated they didn’t just create their own new IP to build off of as opposed to using a well established one like Child’s Play.