Child's Play (2019)

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I have been pretty skeptical of the Child’s Play remake from the beginning. However, I was still willing to go into this film with something of an open mind, even if I didn’t exactly have faith in it. Fortunately, for the most part, this movie actually proved me wrong. For one thing, I actually found Chucky (voiced in this remake by Mark Hamill) creepier than in the original. The reason is because this version of Chucky has more of an “if I can’t have you, no one can” attitude towards Andy. I actually like that this film makes the friendship between Andy and Chucky genuine. It’s also interesting that this A.I. version of Chucky acts much more naive and childlike. He genuinely does not understand that what he’s doing throughout most of this movie is wrong. The film is also legitimately well-acted, particularly from Aubrey Plaza as Karen and Gabriel Bateman as Andy. I actually kind of dug the relationship these two share as an onscreen mother and son. The kills are deliciously gruesome as well. I don’t really want to go into any more detail than that because that kind of ruins the fun of a slasher flick. I also have to appreciate the movie’s dark sense of humor as well. A lot of the jokes actually land for me. They don’t feel forced, so much as honestly natural. Something that gets a lot of criticism is Chucky’s puppet effects. This includes both the design and how he moves around. In all honesty, I didn’t have a problem with his movements at all. There felt like this uncanny valley for me, and I actually dug it. At first, his design was a little too off-putting. See, it worked for me when Chucky needed to be creepy. When he needed to look cute, it really didn’t work for me. I do have to admit that I wish some of the characters had a little bit more development to them (or in some cases, a legitimate introduction). But, these really aren’t huge problems for me, especially knowing this movie could have turned out far, far worse. As somebody who is a huge Chucky fan, I actually recommend this remake. I can’t guarantee every Chucky fan will like it, but i do think it’s worth seeing. 

8 / 10