After seven movies (three well-made horror movies followed by four dreadful black humor comedies avoiding the “Child’s Play” title and instead using “Chucky” in each of the titles (Seed of Chucky, Cult of Chucky, etc.), the Child’s Play franchise had no other option than to route for a remake. Updated to fit the 21st century, the voodoo aspect of body-switching from the original classic was upgraded to artificial intelligence which could jump around courtesy of wi-fi access. Here, Chucky is the brainchild of a disgruntled factory worker who removes safety protocols (as if a toy company would have created such features in the software in the first place). When young Andy happens to own the very doll that attempts to replicate artificial intelligence, murder ensues.
There are a number of great horror scenes including a graphic slice on a table saw. The budget was maintained low enough to ensure the reboot exceeded profit expectations, especially when you consider the almost-unknown cast hired to perform their duties sufficiently in front of the camera. Mark Hamill supplies voice to Chucky, the Buddi doll that goes berserk. But the flaw with this movie is the doll itself.
See also: TRAILERS: CHILD’S PLAY (2019)
The original worked well because the animatronics gave life to an inanimate object. Courtesy of voodoo, the doll displayed a persona similar to a real psychopathic human being including the menacing laugh. You could never anticipate what Chucky was going to do next. Here, the threat is physically real (sharp blades) but mentally no more of a threat than your Alexa in the living room. The menace was no more than a computer program designed to follow computer code.
To give credit, the producers did everything to the book and expectations (based upon review of the movie trailer) were fairly routine. If the budget was kept low enough in production, this movie has a chance to score points with the studio and green light a sequel — but hopefully with a 2.0 upgrade.
