One of the most interesting aspects of films based in the future is technological advancements fully integrated into everyday life giving us a glimpse into our not so distant future. This was the appeal of the new film Upgrade. In the opening scenes, we see advanced fully autonomous cars and equally as advanced smart homes that make Tesla self-driving cars and Amazon’s Alexa look obsolete. Despite the various technological advancements, there will be individuals that appreciate the more simple analog life. Such is the case for the main character of the film, Grey Trace, played by Logan Marshall-Green. Grey views technology as a threat to mankind and feels that there are some things that computers will never be able to do. This line of thinking makes him a target. Shortly into the film, Grey and his wife are involved in a violent attacked by a unknown group of men. Following the attack, Grey receives a traumatic injury that leaves him as a quadriplegic.
Following his recovery from the attack, Grey is presented with an opportunity to walk again, but in order to do so he must embrace current technology. With the help of state of the art medical technology, Grey gets a microchip implanted in his spin, giving Grey the ability to walk and functions again. However, an advanced supercomputer is communicating with Grey and walking him through new advanced abilities. The chip turns Grey into a superhuman, bringing out the ultimate potential of the human body and helps him figure out the culprits behind the attack on him and his wife. The plot has plenty of twists and turns that will keep you on your toes. The action in Upgrade will completely catch you off guard. Visually, Upgrade is solid and not over the top presenting a realistic future setting. Grey is a very relatable character as he seems to be more connected with our present time than the future. All in all, Upgrade is a very entertaining film that has an interesting take on future tech. Upgrade is definitely worth a consideration on your next date night. We at Critix give Upgrade 3.5 out of 5 X’s .