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UPGRADE

"UPGRADE Is a Downgrade"

NoneLightModerateHeavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

UPGRADE tells the story of Grey Trace, whose wife is murdered by four masked thugs, who paralyze Grey. A friend gives Grey a chance to fully live again and avenge his wife’s murder, by implanting a tiny artificial intelligence device called Stem in his body. After the device reconnects his brain to his spinal cord, Grey realizes he not only can walk and function normally, but he also has extraordinary capabilities whenever he lets Stem take control. The detective working his wife’s case fails to bring justice to the men who murdered Grey’s wife. So, Grey decides to take the law into his own hands. Along the way, he realizes he isn’t the only person who’s been upgraded.

UPGRADE is a well-choreographed, designed movie when it comes to its fight scenes and special effects. However, it lacks a compelling story, complexity and character development. Also, its comic relief is not so funny. Finally, there’s no sense of loss, awe, triumph, or meaning to the story. UPGRADE has a strong humanist worldview, excessive violence, foul language, and no respect for human life.

Content:

(HHH, B, HoHo, LL, VVV, S, A, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Very strong humanist worldview promoting revenge and the ends justifies the means about “upgrading” humans with machines, with some moral issues about man versus machine, plus some homosexual claptrap where a character claims they are “non-binary” (neither male nor female) and says every person who tries to categorize them as “binary” is wasting their time;

Foul Language:
14 obscenities and three strong profanities, plus man vomits twice;

Violence:
Very strong and strong violence includes woman shot in the chest but the shot is right outside of camera’s view, man shot in neck, man undergoes surgical procedure, and audience watches his back being sliced open showing blood, skin and bone, man’s face is sliced in half at the jawline with a knife, another man’s face is cut up with a knife, one man’s head is blown off his body by a gun, two security guards riddled with bullets, man stabbed in the head, violence alluded to in bathroom where walls are covered with blood and bullet shells litter the floor;

Sex:
Implied marital sex includes a reference to “taking pants off” between a husband and wife, and wife straddles husband in car and begins taking her coat jacket off, but both remain fully clothed;

Nudity:
No explicit nudity, but woman wears low cut blouse, and man’s bare back is scene during a surgical procedure.

Alcohol Use:
Man drinks a “celebratory beer” after finishing work on a car, man drinks a few glasses of brandy, and five minutes of a scene takes place in a bar;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking, but protagonist tries to overdose on his nightly medication and ends up in hospital; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
Strong miscellaneous immorality includes protagonist lies to police about being a paralytic and lies to his mother, whole plot is based on protagonist getting revenge for his wife’s murder, and discussion about creating a “superior race” by using machines to “upgrade” humans.

More Detail:

UPGRADE is a science fiction thriller about a paralyzed man who gets a special computer implant that helps him avenge his wife’s death.

The story’s inciting incident occurs after a car crash, where Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Greene) and his wife, Asha (Melanie Vallejo), are dragged out of their car by four men with masks. These men leave Asha dead and Grey a paraplegic.

After three months of recovery, Grey struggles to find life’s purpose now that his wife is dead. His limbs are useless, and the detective on the case is nowhere closer to tracking down the murderers. A previous connection of Grey’s offers him the chance to reconnect his brain with his spinal cord, by inserting a small implant in his neck, a cockroach-looking machine called Stem.

After receiving this “upgrade,” Grey realizes he not only can walk and function normally but also has extraordinary capabilities whenever he lets Stem take control. The detective working his wife’s case fails to bring justice to the men who murdered Grey’s wife. So, Grey decides to take the law into his own hands. Along the way, he realizes he isn’t the only person who’s been upgraded.

UPGRADE follows the classic revenge story outline, but without much creativity, depth or unexpected twists. The protagonist just eliminates bad guys one by one. This revenge story is combined with the classic creator versus creation and man versus machine science fiction plots. Writer and Director Leigh Whanell tries inserting some comedy into the story, but at times it was hard to tell whether certain moments were supposed to be comical or serious. Thus, many times UPGRADE feels like a comical Frankenstein movie. Also, although there’s a plot twist at the end, the movie’s simplistic storyline and lack of character development or deep motivation makes twist rather predictable.

From a technical effects standpoint, however, the movie is well done. The action sequences are tight and well-choreographed, the special effects and engineering for the movie were unique and done without flaw, and much of the modern technology portrayed could plausibly be where society will be 20 years from now or so. The acting is serviceable concerning what little the script offers the actors.

UPGRADE espouses a humanist worldview. Man is the measure of all things, man is creator and creation, only the material world exists, and only the fit will survive. Grey Trace, along with the help of Stem, finds himself in the position to be sole judge and executioner for the murderers, and the audience watches a meager moral battle. He knows that murder is wrong, but does it anyway, at least to the people who deserve it, and there is always the justification “well, they deserved it” and “no one else will give me justice.” Other upgraded people aren’t using their gifts as a means of vengeance but to clear out a society of people who are “less than,” in other words those people who don’t have upgrades. This is the typical kind of elitism that seems common to humanist philosophy.

That said, UPGRADE does ask some interesting questions. Is the will-power of man greater than the control of a machine? Is a human’s soul stronger than a computing system?

However, UPGRADE is also extremely violent and bloody, showing bullets going through people’s bodies and faces being carved by knives, and most of the time making it seem comical. It shows little or no respect for human life.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


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