Oh, honey no. I can get behind the idea of tech commentary horror, as the original Child’s Play was itself a commentary on toy marketing. But this didn’t need to be a Child’s Play movie, and the attempts to create a new generation of Chucky (while still trying to make him too much like the *old* Chucky — the overalls, really?!) are super awkward. There’s also a ton of weird stuff that might have made sense in the writer’s room but make no sense in execution. Like, either he’s a defective doll who doesn’t have safety programming (why would a doll even be made with violent capabilities that need to be disabled in the manufacturing stage?!) … or he has his own personality (the remake eschews the voodoo possession concept and goes with the doll programmer equivalent of spitting in someone’s drink). Also, one little plot point was so unbelievably stupid (the “present” for Doreen) that I couldn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of the movie. But it’s gorier than most of the original Child’s Play movies, if that’s your jam and it’s enough for you, especially if you’ve never seen any of the other movies. Just don’t get me started on that imprinting song.
Trailers: All Child’s Play/Chucky movies, including reboot
This feels like the perfect stew made from all of the best parts of the whole franchise, almost as if everything had been leading to this point all along. Having multiple possessed dolls solves the problem of having to continually bring Chucky back in increasingly ridiculous ways. Despite loving little Andy as the protagonist in the first two movies, I like that the main characters here are a little older, with more complex lives and conflicts, which is way more fitting for TV. I don’t think I’ve ever turned around on a character so dramatically as I did with mean girl Lexy — there’s something about crossing that Rubicon and knowing the truth about Chucky that changes a person. It also gives me another verse of my FAVORITE SONG: "Enemies Working Together for a Common Cause." There’s a surprising depth of continuity with the films (there’s even a mention of Glen/Glenda, though not where they end up at the conclusion of Seed of Chucky). I do find it weird that, among our main trio, there ends up being literally one parent (and she’s the worst one -- yes, even including Jake's abusive dad). And I could do with never seeing Lexy’s Chucky-obsessed little sister ever again (a kewpie-doll version of Dudley Dursley, who screams whenever she doesn't get something she wants). But despite some characters I wanted to bludgeon with a hammer (not to mention Chucky's Jen Psaki hairstyle), this series starts great, and just gets better and better (I'd explain why, but I've already given too much away). I can’t wait to see more of this.
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