As I walked into the theater I did what I did when it comes to every remake or reboot I’ve ever seen: I dropped all my expectations with an attempt to appreciate this new version despite what the past versions held. The comparisons are always inevitable; when 2017’s It released friends and family (and the entirety of the internet) immediately began comparing Skarsgard’s Pennywise to Curry’s. I try to avoid that conundrum. I want to see what a new creative visionary can bring to life on the screen. Despite all that, I still walked out of the theater less than enthusiastic about the 2019 version of Child’s Play.

The basic premise follows an electronic toy doll titled Buddi that serves as a hub for all sorts of Bluetooth and Wireless communication. This doll can connect with all of parent company Kaslan’s other devices. A disgruntled worker at a Vietnam Warehouse creates a defective version of the Buddi doll on purpose and it is shipped out. Buddi then lands in the hand of Andy and all goes awry as the best friend ever attempts to remove every factor from Andy’s relationship with the doll. 

Let’s start off with the most important part of Child’s Play – Mark Hamill casted as the voice actor for Chucky. Hamill is a damned good voice actor; he’s been the joker in the Batman animated series and the Arkham game series in the past. However, I do not believe that he was able to use the full extent of his character due to fixed and repetitive lines found within the film’s script. Hamill took the source material and adapted it with his voice as best as he could, but a lackluster script did not show the man prominence. 

I do believe the same can be said for the rest of the actors within the movie. They all played their parts very well but the script held back the movie from becoming a great horror. Gabriel Bateman as Andy Barclay was a good choice but his actions in keeping the doll and not dismantling it are hard to overcome. Andy’s cat scratches him at one point in the movie. After that Chucky attempts to strangle the cat for hurting his best friend. Rather than getting rid of the doll Andy chooses to keep him instead. I think any self-interested young person would go on the fritz and decimate an electronic doll that attempted to kill their living animal. This is an example of the small errors that did not keep me engaged with the film but one that takes me right out. 

If there was any one shining beacon of light found within the script it would be Aubrey Plaza as Andy’s mother, Karen. Throughout the movie she goes off and faces turmoil from her current boyfriend who does not get along with Andy, believing that her son is going insane, as well as trying to make end’s meet. Her conflicts within the film were much more interesting to me than say what either Andy or Chucky were up to. In a film revolving around horror and murder that is not a good sign. 

Several other characters are introduced throughout the film such as Detective Mike Norris (Brian Tyree Henry) and Andy’s friends Omar (Marlon Kazadi), Falyn (Beatrice Kitsos), Pugg (Ty Consiglio), and Chris (Anantjoy S. Aneja). However, none of these characters are ever fleshed out in full. We first meet Pugg and Falyn as they see Andy interacting with Chucky. Rather than spending time developing the kids’ relationship, the film skips to the trio being absolute best friends. I found myself puzzled at this and wanted more from the film. 

Despite these criticisms, Child’s Play did have a few glorious and fun murders. Karen’s boyfriend Shane (David Lewis) is knocked off a latter whilst taking down Christmas lights, breaks his legs, and makes a mad dash for his cell phone while Chucky controls a mulcher. Another one sees an older woman getting spun about in a car that Chucky is controlling. These are interesting twists to the genre of horror; they’re conventions that I have not seen used appropriately. 

Chucky’s design in this film is not the best in the world, either. Looking at his plastic face invokes a sense of unease so it was hard for me to justify why anyone would want to buy a Buddi doll. There’s a widespread demand for these Buddi dolls in the film and I know for sure parents would not be in line for these things; nor would kids. Again, it’s just a small factor that brought me out of the film rather than being stuck in its world. 

Child’s Play teeters on the edge of being good or bad as it’s not necessarily either. It has a lot of good concepts found within its story but none of them are really pulled off too well. Aubrey Plaza does a phenomenal job with her part but the other characters and the script at large feels undeveloped. The creative kills are worthwhile but Chucky is just hard to look at; the doll’s not creepy just awkward. I can’t wholly recommend this remake but I can’t justifiably defend it, either. See it if you want, but we’re giving this horror a 5.5 out of 10.