The Invisible Man (2020)

When I had first heard that Universal was thinking about bringing back the famous Universal Monsters for their version of the MCU entitled The Dark Universe, I was super excited. Then The Mummy starring Tom Cruise was released in 2017 and bombed at the box office almost forcing The Dark Universe to crumble and die. That is until director/writer Leigh Whannell (Upgrade) decided to take over the script for The Invisible Man which happens to be today's film. The film stars Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale) as Cecilia Kass, a woman who had to run away from her abusive husband Andrew (played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen) in the middle night in a great deal of fear. She soon finds out that he has committed suicide and that he leaves her a fortune, but she begins to suspect that the suicide is a hoax and that he is stalking her by being invisible, but will anyone believe her? The film also stars Harriet Dyer (Love Child) as Emily Kass, Aldis Hodge (Straight Outta Compton) as James, Storm Reid (A Wrinkle In Time) as Sydney, Michael Dorman (Killer Elite) as Tom, Benedict Hardie (Upgrade) as Marc, Renee Lim (Please Like Me) as Doctor Lee, Nicholas Hope (Scooby-Doo) as Head Doctor, and Sam Smith (The Nightengale) as Det. Reckley.

Spoiler Alert: Moving forward in this paragraph there will be details that are spoiled about the film so proceed with caution. One of the things they did right with this film was the execution of everything from the acting to the writing and anything in-between. I loved the fact that it wasn't a traditional horror film and that it thrived off the fact that it wanted to make you very uncomfortable and the music definitely helped with that. One of the main things I also liked about the film was the fact that he doesn't turn invisible because of a potion or a science experiment gone bad, he turns invisible because he has a suit that is made entirely of cameras that capture the surroundings constantly. That concept to me was just brilliant because it makes it believable that someone could create this technology especially in this day and age and this is dangerous technology placed in the wrong hands. I loved the final battle scene (if you want to call it that) because it exposed him to the world and it finally proved that she wasn't going crazy after all. I want to give big kudos to the makeup department for doing a great job with Moss who while in the institution was looking worse for wear and they captured that well. Leigh Whannell has proven to me in two films that he might have a claim to sit up in the throne with fellow Saw alumnus James Wan as far as this generation's leading horror/sci-fi men. As I said before, the film is not very scary, but it's just skin crawling cringe and that is exactly what this kind of film needed. I hope this does give life back to The Dark Universe so we can finally get what we want. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.

Upgrade (2018)

What if you were told that there was a way for people that are paralyzed whether it be from the waist or neck down that there was something they could do to regain motion? I am thinking that a lot of people would certainly jump at the opportunity to do so because I probably would. That is the very question we face in today's film Upgrade which is a Sci-Fi, Action, and horror film that was written and directed by Leigh Whannell (Insidious: Chapter 3). The film stars Logan Marshall-Green (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Grey Trace, a mechanic who also happens to be a technophobe, but unfortunately his life will be turned upside down when his wife is murdered and he is left as a quadriplegic. One day, he is offered the chance to walk again by planting a computer chip in his spine and after he accepts it, he goes on a mission to track down the men that wronged him. The film also stars Melanie Vallejo (Power Rangers: Mystic Force) as Asha Trace, Harrison Gilbertson (Need For Speed) as Eron Keen, Benedict Hardie (The Light Between Oceans) as Fisk, Betty Gabriel (The Purge: Election Year) as Det. Cortez, Simon Maiden (The Great Raid) as Stem, Richard Cawthorne (Wolf Creek) as Serk, and Christopher Kirby (Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge Of The Sith) as Tolan.

Ultimately this is another lesson in why technology will be the death of us because nothing worth wild comes without the fine print or the bottom line if you may. I am definitely so happy that I chose to check out this film because when it originally came out, I didn't have time to see it, but this was thinking a little outside the box called Hollywood and running with something original. It's a breath of fresh air in a world polluted with remakes and reboots and good for Leigh Whannell because that whole Saw crew have turned out to be amazing writers. I was glued to my seat the whole entire time because the action is bad ass and the story is just so well written. I though the hunt for the men who did it and the sequences that followed owed a little bit to the film The Crow as he is back to right the wrongs, but there is just this little twist at the end of the film. My screenwriter professor once told me that if you were going to take an idea that was already done, you had to do something different to it to make it original whether it be weapons upgrades or into the future like Leigh did for this film. I loved the cinematography with all the cool fight scenes, but the tone deserves some notice. It has a very brooding look and feel to the film in an almost futuristic feel like Blade Runner and so many more. Some may find my final grade a little shocking, but this was worth the watch and then some so that is why I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.