The reboot of the absurd 1988 horror slasher chooses to go the killer robot route instead of vengeful trapped spirit, and it appears the Lars Klevberg-directed pic might have stuck the landing. Presently,
Child's Play is hoovering at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, where a minimum score of 60% is needed to avoid the dreaded rotten certification.
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry, and Mark Hamill as the voice of Chucky, some critics are hailing the film as "
an absolute blast. Daft, scary and pretty gross," others deride the reboot as "
something unfathomably dumb."
Below, we have some of the best reactions from respected outlets like the New York Post, Los Angeles Times, AV Club and more. Click the Next button to scroll through the reviews.
[via
The New York Times]
"While we may need to fear the creeping presence of Alexa, Siri and self-driving cars, rogue artificial intelligence is easily explained — unlike, say, a possessed doll that frames a small boy for murder. Paradoxically, plausibility makes “Child’s Play” less scary. In trying to build a smarter Chucky, the filmmakers have assembled something unfathomably dumb."
[via
The Wrap]
"The movie’s biggest strength is its balance between mordant humor and psychological fear. Everyone’s focus seems to be in a very old-fashioned place, and here that’s an asset. The lead actors are uniformly committed, with Bateman forming touching connections to both a sweetly wry Plaza and a memorable Brian Tyree Henry (“Atlanta,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”), who plays the local detective. Ultimately it’s their bond, rather than Chucky’s final freakout, that suggest this creaky franchise isn’t quite played out yet."
[via
THR]
"The makeshift nature of Mancini's originals handily outshines this slick, corporate cash-grab. I'll still give Child's Play redux this: best end-credits song since Gran Torino."
[via
Variety]
"The fact the film doesn’t take itself too seriously can make “Child’s Play” fun to laugh at — a kind of good-bad movie experience that’s nowhere near as entertaining as that recent “Black Mirror” episode where Miley Cyrus plays a pop star with a dangerous tie-in toy."
[via
The AV Club]
" Dourif’s Chucky had attitude, a personality, and hot pumping blood, all of which have made him an enduring (and ongoing) presence at multiplexes for the better part of three decades. Klevberg and Smith reduce Chucky to a malevolent automaton, his dialogue limited to parroting back someone else’s catchphrases. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere, about a film rewording a past success and outputting only a garbled repetition."
[via
The Sun]
"Whilst it’s a pretty straightforward slasher flick with a modern twist, I honestly had such a good time. It is SO gory, so ridiculously inventive and very, very funny."
[via
The Los Angeles Times]
"Being an AI with faulty circuitry, Chucky 2.0 doesn't have the hilarious vulgarity or the single-minded murderous glee - the soul, if you will - that made Dourif's Chucky such an unnervingly human abomination."