A few weeks back, my husband and I had a date night. As a horror fan, the main movie I wanted to see was the reboot of Child’s Play. Boy, were we surprised at what we saw on the silver screen. 

Child’s Play (2019)

Yes, Chucky is back in action in the 2019 reboot of the 1988 cult classic, Child’s Play. Tyler Burton Smith wrote the screenplay based on the Don Mancini script. Lars Klevberg directed the film with inspiration from another classic movie, 1982’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In an IMDb interview, Klevberg states the movie is “E.T. on acid.”

At the time of writing this article, Klevberg’s movie had a sixty percent Tomatometer with a sixty percent Audience Score from Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb (International Movie Database) had a 6.4/10 rating. Nick Allen, a writer for Roger Ebert’s website, gave it a thumbs up. It will not surprise me if a sequel is not in store.

Storyline

The movie revolves around a young teenager (Andy) and his lack of socializing. His mother snatches up a first-generation, dysfunctional artificial intelligence Kaslan Buddi doll from the return section from her job. The toy connects to all the Kaslan products and is accessible via cellphone. She hopes the gift will improve her son’s social life. But things got out of hand when the AI starts to learn and starts killing.

How I saw the movie

What I learned from the movie is not to piss off an employee. They can damage to your company, like disable all safety protocols on an AI device which can cause the item in question to go on a killing spree and hack into other Kaslan Buddi dolls and products.

The movie reiterated AI’s becoming self-aware and showing dominance over humans, which we have seen in the Terminator’s franchise, Matrix series, and in the film I, Robot. The rebooted Chucky is a child-sized terminator or a kid-sized AI breaking the “Three Laws of Robotics.”

Child’s Play has its laughs, as it is a comedy-horror. I liked a few parts — the skin-face gift, first from Chucky to Andy and then from Andy to Doreen. The janitor of the apartment building, his death is great. But the new, hair slicked back, Chucky doesn’t cut it for me. Something is missing.

Child’s Play (1988)

In 1988 Director Tom Holland and writer Don Mancini gave Freddy, Michael, and Jason a run for their money with a possessed doll in Child’s Play. The movie spawned six more films and an upcoming television show on the SyFy channel in 2020.

Storyline

The 80s Child’s Play gave us Charles Lee Ray, a Vodou serial killer. To escape the cops, he performs a ritual on a Good Guy doll and transfers his soul into it. It’s not long after the event Andy told his mother he wanted a Good Guy doll and not clothes for his birthday. His mother finds out a homeless guy behind her department store is selling one and buys it. Little does she know the doll is possessed by a killer.

But what makes this Chucky better than the AI Chucky?

The doll fits the age. The Good Guy doll is, about, the same size as Andy, who is a six-year-old boy and a fan of the franchise. The company creates the toy for his age group, which makes the scenario believable and relatable to the audience. How many parents have children that go crazy for such items at that age? Plus, it pulls at our heartstrings to watch such a young child fighting for his life. The 2019 version protagonist is a thirteen-year-old boy, and they have other things on their minds besides an AI doll, which makes the movie unbelievable, now if it was video games, then yes.

Yes, the reboot is believable and relatable with the AI takeover theme, employees getting revenge, and an event equal to Black Friday. Yes, that is scary, but not as terrifying as what humans do to each other. When you read the news on the internet or hear it over your television or radio, humans’ treatment to each other is horrifying. We yell, threaten, throw punches, and kill each other. That is what the 1988 Child’s Play hooked us in on was our fears of ourselves and our fellow human beings.

The 1988 Child’s Play has soul and personality. Even though Chucky is a doll, he is human; he has a soul. He bleeds, breathes, and has emotions. The film fed on our fears of how we treat each other, something the 2019 movie doesn’t.

Sorry folks, but I do not need a Buddi. I need a “friend till the end.” (Child’s Play, 1988).