Hello everyone, welcome to the first day of our new series - Tiny Terrors. I am super excited to be doing this. With this series, we will be covering the Child's Play/Chucky, Puppet Master and Leprechaun franchises.
While today was initially supposed to be Puppet Master Mondays, it seemed like our favorite Buddi couldn't let that be. So we are now seeing Child's Play Mondays, Leprechaun Wednesdays and Puppet Master Fridays.
When I first thought about this series, I didn't realize that each of these three franchises had a reboot. I think it's fair to say that all three of them receive some bad words. I figured the best way to start is by covering these right off the bat.
When it was first announced, the idea of a Child's Play reboot felt very unnecessary. I mean Don Mancini, himself, already had saved the franchise with his recent outings with Chucky. So why would a reboot be necessary?
One could say that the idea in the studio's eyes was the money. Take advantage of the success that Mancini had with the brand. The rights are something of an interesting point. MGM had the rights to the original Child's Play, while Universal and Don Mancini have the rights for everything following.
The film also received a huge amount of backlash because the studio chose to make this without any involvement of Don Mancini and Brad Dourif. Was this a bit of a harsh move by the studio? Yes, I believe it was. It was revealed that Don Mancini turned down an executive producer credit for this film as well.
Child's Play (2019) was directed by Lars Klevberg and written by Tyler Burron Smith. It was also produced by Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg.
It follows Andy and his mother, Karen. Karen is a single mother that is doing absolutely everything she can to give her teenage son a good life after moving to a new apartment. One day, Karen gives Andy an early birthday present - a Buddi doll. Then chaos ensues slowly.
This all sounds like old hat to us fans of the franchise. However, Psycho 1998 is this not. This is a solid modernization of that initial story.
One of the things I loved about this version are the characters. Well, most of them - not you Shane (David Lewis).
Here we have an Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman) that is now a teenager. He is someone that can take care of himself. In the beginning, he's more on the outs of being social. He's a new kid that would rather be on his phone then trying to make new friends. During the course of the film, He does make some friends, specifically Pugg (Ty Consiglios) and Falyn (Beatrice Kitsos). These three deliver great performances all around. And by the end, we see them come to Andy's defense at the drop of a hat.
Detective Mike (Brian Tyree Henry) is fantastic as well. For Mike, it's nice seeing more depth to his character with him visiting his mother, Doreen, who lives down the hall from Andy. He's a son that is doing his best to try to keep an eye on his mom. He makes bad jokes at inappropriate times when he's nervous. (See the first interaction between Mike and Karen.) Altogether this version of Mike is a very likeable character. He is someone that I feel Andy could have trusted more perhaps.
Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) is great. She's holding it together as best she can for her and Andy. Sure, she has some bad taste in men (see Shane). But she's trying - even if it means she's taking as many hours at work as she can. Or ya know blackmailing her boss into letting her take home a Buddi for her son's birthday. There's only so much a single mom can do.
Now, there is Chucky. That's the big elephant in the room. Is it still Chucky when you change him so much? The answer is yes. While we are so accustomed to Brad Dourif being the heart and soul to Chucky, Mark Hamill does a solid job.
At first, I was not sold on the idea of Chucky being a learning toy for kids. However, this time around - it hit differently for me. As a parent, the very idea of a toy learning habits from your children is terrifying. My son loves the toys that do just that. He just got an owl that you have to try to teach it how to fly. So with that, the reason this hits more is because how relatable it can be.
Chucky is definitely a character. He's not just some AI toy. He has feelings to an extent. He wants to be there for Andy and be his best friend. Yeah, a worker changed his settings on his programming chip. This, to me, works just as well as having it be a VooDoo wielding serial killer. Albeit it's a bit more grounded.
To see the evolution with Chucky's learning was very interesting. Though, Andy shoulda seen that red flag when Chucky tried to choke out the cat for scratching Andy. But at first, Chucky expressed remorse for that. Then Chucky thinks kids enjoy seeing people get hurt after watching bits of Texas Chainsaw Massacre II with the three kids. This leads Chucky to wielding his knife and accidentally cutting Andy. It left Chucky in Andy's room alone in the dark while Andy saw with his friends. Seeing this isolation, it made me feel bad for him. Its not his fault that having no programming has him viewing the world in a child's mindset.
As things progressed, Chucky's character evolved because of his actions. To the point where Chucky is attacking everyone close to Andy.
Overall, this is still Chucky. It's just a more modern approach. As to which Chucky I like, it's a tie. I love Brad Dourif Chucky - have spent 7 films and going to be a tv series with him. However, this one definitely is on par. Especially with Chucky from the original film.
The gore and kills in the film. There are some kills. For the most part, I look at it as the gore for the kills are used most effectively on the characters that deserve it (Shane and the Janitor). As for Andy's cat A) doesn't deserve it and B) it's an animal. So it wasn't going to be over the top. It had to be effective which that one is. I was uncomfortable with the image of Chucky choking out the cat at first. But then I started thinking about it and it felt appropriate. Because it was Chucky's way of acting out of anger. Doreen, Mike's Mom, didn't deserve it. She was a kind old lady. She just wanted to play BINGO. Yet, this death is effective with the time we spent with the character. And then to see how it effects Mike is powerful too. Shane and the Janitor deserve it. They are both 100 percent douches. The Janitor may just be more creepier. But Shane is a douche cause he mistreats him..plus there's the whole 'I have a wife and two daughters' thing. Though, him getting his face skinned to be displayed on a watermelon is a touch of Texas Chainsaw II.
This film was a bit tame compared to other horror films. But that's okay. Not everything needs to be blood flying to the walls with everything.
In regards to Andy's hearing aid, this was an aspect that I didn't mind. It helped add tension at the end of the film. Do I wish this would have been utilized more? Yeah. Same goes for the concept of using the Buddi app to see through Chucky's eyes. Both of these felt a little underutilized.
In the end, this felt like a solid beginning story for a new branch of a Child's Play franchise. It was interesting seeing Chucky have to learn throughout the film. It added a whole new layer to the story. And there's a lot of different ways you could take the story next.
For me, I hope we get to see more with the Kaslan Corporation. They were a bit light handed with representation in the film. I mean we get Tim Matheson as the head honcho. Come on use him more. There are definitely ways that could happen.
With MGM being sold off to Amazon, what might that mean? I am hoping that Amazon picks up things for a sequel. I want more of this incarnation. Especially more of the Buddi Bear. That thing was pretty awesome. Plus the interconnectivity of the toys as a concept could be fun to see more of.
If you haven't seen this film cause heard that it's bad, it's not. Give it a shot. I challenge you guys to check it out. Go in with an open mind. You may end up liking it. For me, it's definitely on par with the original film. It's a bit underrated.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
(F in Chat for Mickey Rooney)
Stay tuned as our next installment will be Leprechaun Origins.
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