Child's Play (2019)
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This article is about 2019 remake. You may be looking for 1988 original film with the same name. |
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 While an improvement over Seed of Chucky, this ain't that much.
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Child's Play is an American-Canadian horror-comedy slasher movie directed by Lars Klevberg, written by Tyler Burton Smith, and Produced by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith. It stars Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry, and Mark Hamill. It is a remake/reboot of the original 1988 film of the same name. It was released on June 21, 2019 theatrically.
Plot
Kaslan Corporation has recently launched a new robotic doll called Buddi, a high-tech sentient toy that acts as a life-long companion for its owner. In a Vietnamese Kaslan headquarters, an abused worker hacks into the doll's system and turns off its safety protocols and it is then shipped to stores. Karen purchases the same doll for her son Andy. However -- after the doll nicknamed "Chucky" is exposed to a violent horror film and a knife, it turns sinister and goes into a killing spree.
"Oops! I did it again!" Qualities
- First off, this movie simply has no reason to exist. The Child's Play franchise was never in any sort of danger and was still going strong. This movie was only made just for the sole purpose of making money. Also, the film didn’t sit well with a few cast members from the original Child’s Play series, including Jennifer Tilly. It also debatably came out too early, because, unlike franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th, Chucky's original franchise is still technically going today, although the last two films were direct-to-video and weren't released theatrically.
- Curse of Chucky already seemed to be a revival of the franchise that, at the same time, introduced the franchise to those who have not seen the first 5 films. In addition, Don Mancini confirmed a partnership with SyFy to make a Chucky TV series that will serve as a continuation of the original hepatology and will take place after the events of Cult of Chucky chronologically, in addition to rumors involving a possible Chucky 8. Since MGM still retained the rights to the original 1988 film, Orion Pictures (owned by MGM) decided to make its reboot, although the original Child's Play franchise is not only still in progress but will also have a TV show and possibly an eighth movie. It is a pity since the original writer Don Mancini (and the rest of the original cast) did not approve of this. In addition, Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly rejected this reboot because they, along with Don, considered this reboot to have a lack of respect for the original franchise and Don Mancini. This is not to say that the cast and the remake team did not put their hearts to work though.
- Awful grasp of the source material. This movie is so different from the originals that it's really difficult to call this a Child's Play film. Chucky's in it, he has a knife and swears, Andy and Karen are also in it -- and that's it. The complete lack of any heart and love dedicated to the original oftentimes feels very insulting. To make matters worse, a lot of crew members even outright hated this movie.
- In the original; Chucky was a Good Guys doll possessed by the soul of a crazed serial killer Charles Lee Ray. In this movie, he's an advanced robot who got his system hacked and turned evil, thus ripping off The Terminator, which itself is a way better film.
- While you feel sympathy for Chucky as he bonds with Andy more and wants to keep him company in this reboot, it feels like he no longer has the motivation to end him up until the very end when they're stuck in Zed Mart, unlike the 1988 original film.
- A very small portion of characters from the original movies appear in this movie, the rest of them never make a single appearance in this film.
- In the original; Chucky was a Good Guys doll possessed by the soul of a crazed serial killer Charles Lee Ray. In this movie, he's an advanced robot who got his system hacked and turned evil, thus ripping off The Terminator, which itself is a way better film.
- So many characters in this movie are either flat-out bad or flanderized from what they used to be.
- Chucky in this movie is far less intimidating and/or funny than he was originally. He went from being a sadistic and terrifying yet hilarious and wisecracking murderer to a braindead robot who hardly tells any jokes and has a very silly voice.
- Karen is an extremely unlikable and nasty character whose name fits her very well, she's now an overly strict and rude mother who is very idiotic. She's also the generic "horror mom who never believes her kid". Karen Barclay is unpleasant in this film and very reminiscent of Buck Cluck in Chicken Little.
- In the original 1988 film, even though Karen Barclay didn’t believe what Andy said about Chucky had killed his babysitter Maggie, and she was the cliché of “horror mom who never believes her kid”. But you still saw her great love for Andy (who was 6 years old in the 1988 film, which somehow helped us to be moved and sympathize with Karen) in the 1988 film, in addition to the moments of mother and child that Karen and Andy had in the original 1988 film, and they had much more chemistry than in Karen and Andy from the 2019 film. In addition to that Karen Barclay in the 1988 film had more character development than in the 2019 movie, and she was much more loveable and likable in the 1988 film than in this 2019 reboot.
- It’s clear that this remake wanted to go for a Stranger Things vibe with Andy’s friends Falyn, and Pugg. However, they don’t have any of the Hawkins kids' chemistry.
- One of the most frustrating aspects is how they treat Andy in the film’s second half. After they dispose of the killer doll who cut off a man’s face and put it on a watermelon, the kids somehow aren’t convinced that Chucky could still be alive. It’s like they brush it off and aren’t traumatized in the slightest of what they just had to do, reverting to making quips instead of taking matters seriously.
- The side teenage characters who assist Andy are ridiculously forgettable and insanely generic -- as they're now unfunny and annoying filler who only exist just to be teenage stereotypes.
- The characters are so hatable that you'll start rooting for Chucky, because most of them are unpleasant, especially Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) and her boyfriend. The only 2 people you feel sorry for is Gabe the Electrician and Doreen.
- One of the worst things about this movie is that the tone is very inconsistent; this film cannot tell whether it wants to be a wacky comedy with an edgy sense of humor or a serious horror film that wants to induce fear into the audience, even though the franchise itself was known for its balanced tone.
- The film might get boring at times depending on your view.
- Poorly written and smarmy script riddled with multiple horror cliches. Because of this, this movie ends up being flooded with cliches and plot holes. More reasons as to why are below.
- Like most other bad horror films, this movie overuses pointless loud jumpscares and violent gore as a desperate attempt to seem "scary", which it fails at doing. Its inconsistent tone does not help either.
- The plot can be predictable at times.
- Although the puppets' effects are pretty decent, they're not quite as good as the original.
- Plot Hole: There are so many plot holes, stupid decisions, and logic failures in this movie that How it Should Have Ended would probably have enough for a whole video. Examples include:
- When Andy and his friends are about to leave the store under the security door, Andy is not wearing his hearing aid as he swings his head showing his left ear repeatedly for several moments. Seconds later when the security door has closed and he stands up he suddenly has his hearing aid back in his left ear. The hearing aid is very noticeable and was conspicuously absent.
- The Vietnamese sweatshop is structured in a way that makes no real sense: the workers seem to be randomly in charge of everything and nothing instead of having specialized streamlined tasks. Already makes no sense that a low-level employee would be able to reprogram a state-of-the-art AI chip, it makes even less sense from a production standpoint that he'd also be given a disassembled doll, dress it, etc.
- Karen forbids her son from playing with Chucky, because he's spending too much time with it on top of it scaring the cat, and locks it up in a cabinet. The cabinet ends up broken (Chucky broke it but she does not know), the cat conveniently disappears (Chucky killed it but she does not know), but the mother is cool about it, the plot point is forgotten and Andy faces no punishment or questioning for it. Any mother would be alarmed and would make a big deal of it possibly even throwing the doll away (she does not care, she did not pay for it), but that sort of drama is delayed until much later in the movie, for no internal reason.
- Shane is seen falling into a watermelon patch in his backyard after Chucky knocks him down. How the hell is Shane growing a watermelon patch in the middle of winter?
- Chucky is a small baby-sized doll... yet he is seen carrying a watermelon and leaping several feet into the air. In the original, it was explained that Chucky was supernatural because he was possessed -- while in this one, he's just a robot.
- After setting his mother free from the forklift, Andy grabs the knife and stabs Chucky in his power core, shutting him down. Moments later Chucky lunges towards him only to be shot by Detective Norris and the hole is no longer in his outfit.
- This movie generally lacks any of the charm of the original films and oftentimes feels like a generic slasher movie with toys. There are lots of moments in this movie where it feels too similar to other films and shows like Black Mirror and Small Soldiers.
- Both Small Soldiers and Child's Play (2019) share the concept of robot toys.
- Both Black Mirror and Child's Play (2019) share the concept of how technology affects us today.
- Mediocre and unconvincing special effects, especially for the CGI model for Chucky. What makes this worse is that this is based on the original Child's Play, which was known for its very impressive and advanced special effects, not to mention, that Chucky looks very cartoony and also clashes with the film's attempted "dark" tone.
- So many characters in this movie don't even act like humans. Falyn and Pugg just dispose of Chucky instead of destroying him after they find out he cut off a man's face. Also, instead of reporting the faceless head of Shane, they wrap it up in Christmas packaging and deliver it to Mike Norris and his mother. It makes no sense why they would do this instead of reporting it to the police.
- Although the puppets' effects are pretty decent, they're not quite as good as the original.
- Just like The Banana Splits Movie, it features Anachronism: Despite having a washed-out and old 80's look, this movie has the presence of advanced technology and smartphones.
- It's too pretentious and tries way too hard to be modern with the usage of technology and pop-culture references.
- Factual errors, like when Mike Norris calls Andy's friends "millennials" when they are Generation Z. That as well as the scene where Gabe gets his leg sliced off by a table saw. Table saw blades usually are only three to four inches and wouldn't be big enough to slice off a human limb.
- So many characters in this movie don't contribute to the plot and are only there just for filler.
- It's yet another movie that has a cast of kids to ride off of the success of Stranger Things and It (2017). However, they don’t have any of the Hawkins kids' chemistry.
- The concept of an AI toy with its safety restrictions removed, learning how to kill people by imitating things it sees, doesn't fit in a supernatural movie franchise.
- The dialogue is amateurishly written and is often at times extremely uncomfortable.
- Chucky in this movie can connect to stuff like temperature being a plot device/plot convenience or an excuse for the final battle.
- The ending is blatant sequel-baiting. To put it briefly, just after the last climax and the massacre throughout the film, Kaslan announced to recall all the dolls, as many packaged dolls were being recalled and put into storage, one of the dolls started functioning as its eyes opened and smile at the viewer, which is implying that Chucky is transferred all his consciousness to another doll body. What makes things worse is -- like most movies that do this --, there's no sequel confirmed or even talked about.
Good Qualities
- Mark Hamill in particular does a great job providing the voice of Chucky, almost sounding similar to Brad Dourif, but still manages to do his take on the killer doll. Mark Hamill does an excellent job at voice-acting Chucky.
- You get to see Andy and Chucky spend time together and bond more, something that didn't happen much in the original.
- Mike Norris and Gabe The Electrician are likable characters.
- The soundtrack. Oh my God, the soundtrack! The music score for this film is amazing and extremely unique and is arguably one of the best things about this movie. It is composed by Bear McCreary, who has done soundtracks for other movies like Godzilla: King of the Monsters (which, ironically, was released the same year as this movie) and Fantasy Island
- The pacing for this movie is surprisingly decent.
- Very cool and memorable kill scenes.
- Chucky is still a good villain and he now has a very interesting redesign. One unique thing about him is that his eyes turn red when he's in his evil state.
- It does at least have some cool references and easter eggs that reference the original films.
- It was at least refreshing to get a new Child's Play movie that wasn't flat-out bad, unlike some of the previous ones; as this movie is still pretty average.
- "THIS IS FOR TUPAC!"
- The practical effects (especially for Chucky and the gore) are very impressive, unlike most of the other effects in this movie.
- Passable acting performances.
- The climax is highly entertaining with Chucky causing a murdering spree in Zed Mart whilst Andy and his friends try to stop him.
- A lot of the jokes in this movie are legitimately pretty funny and land very well.
- The cinematography and camera angles are well-shot and take on the tone of the film very well.
- There are some promotional posters for the film that pokes fun at Toy Story 4. One particular poster shows Woody's arm and Chucky's hand holding a knife, implying that Chucky killed Woody.
- At least it is not a frame-by-frame (or copy and paste) remake of the original 1988 film, like Aladdin live-action remake or The Lion King realistic CGI animated remake.
- The idea of making Chucky an uncontrollable, murderous robot instead of a possessed doll, although bad considering Child's Play was never known for technology, actually makes sense in a way too. Kids nowadays are more interested in technological stuff like iPads, so taking the whole 'doll is alive' concept from the original and using it to make Chucky an advanced piece of technology that's still pretty much a doll that can move on its own is a pretty interesting way of updating the original's basic premise. But it could have been better, less bad, and more tolerable if Chucky was a murderous robot and possessed at the same time everyone would think that he is killing people because of a bug, but in reality, he would be possessed while everyone would think that he was with a defect, bug or fail in his system. That would have been so much better than just a murderous robot with a defect, bug, or failure.
Reception
Child's Play received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, but rather negative reviews from audiences and fans. Both praised the movie for its dark humor, its soundtrack, and its gore. However, it was also criticized for its plot, script, and its poor grasp of the source material. It currently has a 64% "Fresh" Tomato meter on Rotten Tomatoes and a 57% audience score. The Critics' Consensus reads "Child's Play updates an '80s horror icon for the Internet of Things era, with predictably gruesome -- and generally entertaining -- results." It currently has a 48% "mixed or average" Metascore = and a 6.0/10 "mixed or average" score on Metacritic and a 5.7/10 on IMDb. On Google, only 69% of people liked it.
Videos
Trivia
- Mark Hamill previously voiced Chucky in the television series Robot Chicken (2005). The episode: Robot Chicken: Plastic Buffet (2005).
- There's a Killer Klowns From Outer Space movie poster on the wall in Andy's room. Killer Klowns From Outer Space was released in 1988, the same year as the original Child's Play.
- It was released the exact same day as Toy Story 4. There were even teaser posters for the film that parody Toy Story 4 teaser posters because it was released on the same day that Toy Story 4 was released.
- The toy car driven by Andy quotes "Robocop" by saying "Dead or alive you're coming with me".
- Don Mancini was not involved in this movie.
- This is the first Child's Play movie, in which Chucky kills an animal (which in this case is Andy's pet cat).
External Links
Child's Play at the Internet Movie Database
Child's Play on Letterboxd
Child's Play on Metacritic- Nick Allen's review of Child's Play
Child's Play on Rotten Tomatoes
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