Upgrade Review: 5 Ups And 1 Down

As you're going through the beginning section of the movie, you're not very sure what kind of action movie this is going to be. Is it going to be gun-heavy like John Wick or something more martial-arts-based, like The Raid? As it turns out, it's neither. Or maybe both?

Once Grey gets in his first fight, you're treated to Upgrade's stylish, entertaining, and absolutely brutal fight scenes. Serving as a mix of The Matrix and John Wick, these scenes not only serve to give the film much of its unique edge, but also gives Marshall-Green more chances to shine with his comedy and his action prowess. Much of what makes these fight scenes pop is the way Leigh Whannell moves the camera to match Grey's body positioning at any given moment and the way so much of the action is kept in-camera and never uses hyper-editing techniques to take away from the sequences. The way STEM's clear amount of control is constantly apparent as Grey's arms and legs appear to move on their own, leaving his action style to be inhumanely smooth and flawless.

Considering that very little of Whannell's previous work had much action in it, the excellent directing he does here is a happy surprise. There isn't a ton of action in the movie, but once one starts up, I always got excited to see what would happen next.