Child's Play Movie Review: Remember the Chucky doll that scared the daylights out of us back in 1988? Well, with a tech reboot, the scary doll is back to haunt you in 2019 and is probably even scarier than before. The new Child's Play first piqued interest among the audience when the name of Star Wars star Mark Hamill coming on board as Chucky was out. The original Child's Play has been followed by seven sequels including Child's Play 2 (1990), Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998), Seed of Chucky (2004), Curse of Chucky (2013) and Cult of Chucky (2017), followed by a television series Child’s Play: The TV Series. Child’s Play Trailer: There Is a New Chucky in Town and He Is Aching to Make You Feel Scared of Dolls Again! Watch Video.
International reviews for Child's Play are now out and it seems like the digital reboot hasn't been of much help for the makers. A popular thought from the reviews though seems that Mark Hamill's classic voiceover has helped this film immensely. The Star Wars actor is talented. The new Chucky doll looks nothing like before and there are a few critics who expressed disappointment over the same.
Speaking about Chucky's new look and the film, Variety wrote, "Chucky seems less intimidating than before. Part of this can be blamed on the ugly new character design, although he’s really hamstrung by the inevitable limits of an animatronic character’s performance. While the eyes are the only feature that appear to be computer generated, the facial expressions can be confusing, relying on the score to cue us to what Chucky is “thinking.” But when you get down to it, his personality isn’t all that interesting anymore. At least the fact the film doesn’t take itself too seriously can make “Child’s Play” fun to laugh at — a kind of good-bad movie experience that’s nowhere near as entertaining as that recent “Black Mirror” episode where Miley Cyrus plays a pop star with a dangerous tie-in toy."
Contrary to Variety, Forbes has good things to say about this reboot as they write, "For those who came for the Chucky bits, you'll get your money's worth. It doesn't wallow in gore, but the murders are bloody and grotesque. This Chucky is committing crimes of passion, and that is reflected in the onscreen carnage. And since we like (most of) the characters, there is real suspense when folks we like end up in the cross-hairs. Speaking of suspense, there's a wonderfully Hitchcockian bit involving a gift-wrapped... item that elicits laughs and gasps in equal measure."Child’s Play Trailer: Evil Murderer Doll Chucky Returns with Technological Upgrades – Watch Video.
Most reviews mention that Child's Play has its moments of fun and probably they are more enjoyable than the gory bits. The Guardian in their review wrote, "This reboot is reconfigured around something more overtly and satirically absurd than usual: it is a movie that mocks the exploitative globalised conditions in which toys are made for complacent consumers in the prosperous west. It makes fun of our infantilised dependence on tech, and there is a very funny gag about Tupac."
The new Child's Play has been directed by Tom Holland and is all set to release in India on June 21. Stay tuned for LatestLY's review coming up soon!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 21, 2019 04:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).