Child’s Play (2019)

Directed by: Lars Klevberg | 90 minutes | horror | Actors: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill, Tim Matheson, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry, David Lewis, Beatrice Kitsos, Trent Redekop, Ty Consiglio, Ambert Taylor, Carlease Burke, Mia Bella, Marlon Kazadi, Zahra Anderson, Kristin York, Nicole Anthony , Nicholas Dohy

In 1988 ‘Child’s Play’ was released based on the script by Don Mancini. The first part took itself quite seriously for a movie about a murderous doll possessed by the ghost of a serial killer. After the first two very enjoyable parts around killer pop Chucky (with Brad Dourif’s vocals), the franchise slipped further and further and eventually even changed into bland and raunchy horror comedies. A title like ‘Seed of Chucky’ covered the load in that respect. Although the last two parts of the series directed by Mancini himself became a bit more serious – ‘Curse of Chucky’ (2013) and ‘Cult Of Chucky’ (2017) – these parts did not reach the cinema. So it’s high time for a reboot. Without Mancini’s cooperation, a retelling of the bloodthirsty doll was put together. The spiritual father of the franchise wants to present a TV series about Chucky and said in the media that he was very “disappointed” in the reboot. However, Mancini’s criticism did not stop studio MGM from unleashing the reboot on the world. Enter ‘Child’s Play’ (2019)!

In ‘Child’s Play’ (2019), Chucky’s origins have changed considerably. In the 1980s original, a serial killer transported his mind inside a doll. Director Lars Klevberg is looking closer to home. In the 2019 film, Chucky (voiced by Mark ‘Star Wars’ Hamill) is a mechanical doll who runs amok after the exploited Vietnamese worker who assembled the toys is fired. Lacking moral security, Chucky can hurt people and animals and interprets angry reactions from his adolescent owner Andy as licenses to kill.

This reboot remains fairly faithful to the atmosphere of the eighties cult classic. Andy is not believed by the adults around him, and this allows the diabolical Chucky to have his way. The main difference is that the doll in the reboot is not evil by nature, but is made by its environment.

Because there is no brake on the AI ​​of the toy, he does not know which limit he is crossing. The fact that the modern Chucky is a smart robot that can be connected to television, radio, apps and sound systems is also credible. Chucky from 2019 is an evolved super app. That is of course wrong.

To Klevberg’s credit, he’s made actual changes to the original, making this film really something new to offer. ‘Child’s Play’ (2019) is pretty gross at times and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The fact that animatronics were used is also commendable. Chucky looks pretty uncomfortable with his elastic rubber skin and wooden movements. Little is done with CGI and that is nice. This reboot is good and can stand next to the TV series to be released. These franchises don’t bite each other. Thanks to Klevberg who partially managed to tear himself away from the source material. He would have liked to choose a different title, but the marketing department probably wouldn’t have been happy with that…