While producers Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg may have found success in 2017’s horror remake phenom, “IT,” the two struggle to find footing in Orion‘s latest attempt at playing in the playpen of ’80s horror nostalgia. “Child’s Play” is easily the studio’s laziest effort yet. Lacking in structure, suspense, or common sense, the 2019 remake of Tom Holland‘s 1988 film is a meaningless attempt to cash in on the “Chucky” brand. The sloppily strung together narrative randomly bounces from scenario to scenario to stage some dreadfully contrived and painfully tedious kills. What potentially could have been a fresh killer A.I. horror story with contemporary commentary, becomes an antiquated mask that follows every horror cliché imaginable in hopes that audiences will attain cheap thrills.
Andy (Gabriel Bateman) is somewhat of a loner, and after moving to a new city with his mom Karen (Aubrey Plaza), his circumstance only gets worse. To break Andy out of his shell, Karen gifts her son a Buddi doll (voiced by Mark Hamill) who becomes his new best friend. When the doll takes on a life of its own—well, you know the basics already—Andy and the rest of the neighborhood come together to thwart the killer toy’s bloody intentions.
While the surprisingly graphic and grotesque bloodshed is bolstered by impressive practical effects, watching Chucky slice his way through walking archetypes is not only carelessly telegraphed, but the novelty quickly wears thin. The result is a disappointingly dull “Child’s Play” that’s devoid of any genuine suspense or terror. A predictable rinse and repeat cycle, the film is only worsened by an apathetic approach to shaping shallow and utterly uninteresting characters.
Every single character introduced in the film severely lacks depth. Aubrey Plaza and Mark Hamill, two massively talented actors, are completely wasted; Plaza feels two dimensional and underused, while Hamill comes across as a last minute addition to spice up campy Chucky lines over the phone. Brian Tyree Henry‘s lovable Detective Mike is the movie’s saving grace, infusing a genuine likability and charm into the character. He brightens up the screen, but unfortunately isn’t there all that often.
Being a neglected child and victim of divorce with a troubled parental relationship, Andy, on paper, should be far more textured and interesting than he actually is. Instead, the filmmakers blatantly tell us his circumstance while using forced attempts to elicit an emotional connection.
Director Lars Klevberg does a serviceable job crafting a visually pleasing shell for such an empty story, but “Child’s Play” lacks a distinct directorial vision. Even the updated design of Chucky feels cheap, and half-finished beta test. The screenwriters also failed to establish the rules and tone of the world, resulting in a nonsensical chaotic mess. There’s no grasp of time progression, setting, or even continuity as characters and MacGuffin’s enter and exit as the story finds it convenient, continuously feeding this grand sense of apathy.
Admittedly, there is something mildly amusing about the absurd “Child’s Play” antics. The comedy, when it’s glaringly apparent, crashes and burns, yet the film is undeniably humorous in all the wrong ways. There’s an attempt to channel Wes Craven and “Scream,” while completely missing his delicious wit and cleverness. While Holland’s original film served as a tongue-in-cheek satire of the 80’s slasher mold, Klevberg’s iteration comes across as an outdated, straight to VHS relic that completely misses the point of what made the original “Child’s Play” effective and at times, darkly funny.
The shoddiness of “Child’s Play (2019)” gives the film a somewhat fan made demeanor. While the reboot possesses a campy charm that advanced ironists are bound to find entertaining, an eerily effective score from Bear McCreary and a scene-stealing performance by Brian Tyree Henry, none of this is remotely enough to make up for a sheer lack of imagination. With a looming “RoboCop” reboot on the horizon, one can’t help but feel that “Child’s Play” is Orion’s careless attempt to finance their next plunge into ’80s nostalgia. [D+]
