Upgrade — Upgrade(Blu Ray)

Upgrade is an as tight-a-drum sci-fi thriller ribbed with suspenseful twists ‘n’ turns, high-velocity at times brutal action scenes, and a rather neat/ fairly original twist on the whole revenge thing- all making for of the more satisfying and edge-of-your-seat Sci-fi films in recent years. Here from Second Sight is a recent deluxe version of the film- bringing together a hard case slip, forty-page booklet, poster, and a good selection of extras.

Upgrade is from 2018, and is written/ directed by Australian Leigh Whannell- who will be most known to genre fans as writing the first Saw film, as well as acting in it- he also went onto write Saw II, as well as wrote/directed Insidious: Chapter 3. With Upgrade he's made a classy who-done-it/ revenge movie wrapped up in a clever and largely subtle sci-fi setting. The films slickly & edgily shot, making the most of the not huge budget- with a fairly small, though talented and memorable cast.

The film is set in near the future USA- where technology has become even more key and telling in everyday life. We are introduced to bearded technophobe Grey Trace( Logan Marshall-Green), who spends his days working in his home workshop doing up old muscle cars, he’s married to Asha(Melanie Vallejo) whose a career women working in a tech company. One evening the couple go to the impressive underground beach house  of coldly eccentric tech genius Eron Keen(Harrison Gilbertson); to drop off one the cars Grey’s been work on. While in Keen's underground workshop the pair are shown an experimental computer chip called STEM- which apparently enhances whatever it’s put into. On there way home, in his wife's driverless car, the pair crash- Asha is murdered and Grey is paralyzed by a gang of men who seemingly appear/ then disappear to nowhere. After some time Grey returns wheelchair-bound to his home, and after a failed suicide attempt he's offered an operation in Keens lab- which will see STEM been placed in his back….fairly soon he can again walk and move all of his limbs, and he decides to set out to first find out who killed his wife, and then take revenge. Into the story, we get female African American Detective Cortez(Betty Gabrie), and host of shady/ techno enhanced bad guys.

From the off, with it’s low-key, yet effectively painted Utopian future you're pulled into the film- Grey & Asha make for a believable couple, and you feel Grey’s pain. Logan Marshall does a great job with his often jerking/ strange movements after STEM has been put in place. The plotting/ runtime of the film is extremely tight- with none of the films one hour and thirty-nine feeling unneeded or flabby- Whannell script is always on point and involving, as is his sleek directing, which moves from brooding & sinisterly futuristic, to high velocity and at times limb snappingly brutal. I somehow missed Upgrade on the big screen, which is really pity- as I can imagine it would have been even more impactful and involving. I then missed the initial Blu Ray/ DVD release of the film- and I must say I was blown away by the film, and this new & very classy deluxe reissue is very much deserved, as it’s easily one of the greatest sci-fi films of the last ten years.

Moving onto this recent Blu Ray edition of the film on Second Sight- and the sleek black Blu ray case comes in a stiff and sturdy slipcase, and in here along with the case we get a large fold-out poster of the film's artwork, and a forty-page perfectly bound inlay booklet- this takes in stills from the film, full cast, and credits, with the lion share of the booklet taken up by two new lengthy pieces about the film. On the disc extras wise we get a commentary track by director/writer Leigh Whannell, and I must say it’s one of the better director tracks I’ve heard- as it’s informative, amusing and never arrogant or egocentric- making it a real pleasure to listen to & you find out lots of worthy factoids behind the production. Next we get a selection of five new on film interviews- first and longest of these is with Whannell- and it runs for just shy of half-an-hour, and he talks about how the idea for the film first came about, writing the script in Chicago, before going onto talk about the deal with Blumhouse film, go into production and the making of the film- it’s a worthy/ rewarding interview which doesn't just cover what he said on the commentary track. The other four interviews run between eight and fifteen minutes and are with the film's producers, cinematographer, editor and fight choreographer. So all told a very classy and nice reissue of this great slice of modern Sci-fi.

If you enjoy well-paced, involving and suspenseful blends of sci-fi & action- you’ve really got to check out Upgrade, because like me, I think you’ll be bowled-over by the film- and this new reissue of the film is really worth picking up, as Second Sight have just done such a neat & classy job on it.