Director: Lars Klevberg
Writers: Tyler Burton Smith, Don Mancini
Stars: Tim Matheson, Ben Andrusco-Daon, Zahra Anderson
Run Time: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2NML0VP
Synopsis
We watch a commercial for Kaslan’s new product, “Buddi.” Buddi is a new toy that also ties in with your personal assistant. He’s got self-learning routines and adapts to your daily routine. We cut away to the Kaslan factory in Vietnam. A line worker gets slapped by his boss for daydreaming, so he removes all the safety protocols on the Buddi doll he’s working on. He smiles as he packs it into a box and then jumps off the roof to his death.
Karen works at Zed Mart, which sells the Buddi dolls. Her son, Andy, has a hearing aid, and he’s got issues beyond that. Karen picks up a “returned” Buddi doll for Andy. Detective Mike introduces himself to Andy and Karen as he visits his mother down the hall.
Andy turns on the doll and it imprints on him. His name is Chucky and his blue eyes flicker red sometimes. He connects to the cloud and downloads knowledge, but he’s a little glitchy.
Andy whines about Karen’s new boyfriend, and Chucky listens carefully. The two actually begin to bond with each other. The cat scratches Andy in front of Chucky. Chucky’s eyes glow red, and he tries to strangle the cat, but Andy interrupts him. It’s clear to Andy that Chucky doesn’t have to play by the rules.
Andy makes a few friends, and they teach Chucky how to creep out the mom’s boyfriend, Shane. Then they make him steal candy. They watch “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” movie on TV. Chucky grabs a knife to scare the friends, and Andy doesn’t react well. Karen locks Chucky in the closet.
Andy comes home from school and finds that Chucky has killed the cat in a puddle of blood. Andy tells Karen that the cat got out. Shane confronts Andy about not liking him, and he’s not really nice about it. Chucky sees the whole thing. Chucky’s eyes glow red, and he hops in the back of Shane’s truck.
We see that Shane is secretly married and is cheating on his family with Karen. Shane doesn’t last long after that, and yeah, he suffers. Andy finds Shane’s gift-wrapped head the next morning and has to get it out of the house. There’s quite a bit of severed-head hijinks as Karen gives the gift-wrapped head to Detective Mike’s mother as a gift.
Andy and his friends tackle Chucky and pull out his battery. He’s dead. They wrap up his body and throw him into the garbage chute. The maintenance man finds Chucky and fixes him. The maintenance man has video cameras in Karen’s bathroom and various other apartments in the building. He’s watching Karen undress, so he doesn’t see Chucky get up. He doesn’t see very much after that at all…
Another kid in the building finds a Buddi doll and names him Choad. Andy knows it’s really Chucky, but he can’t do anything about it. Andy watches through the Buddi App as Chucky grabs a knife and leaves. Chucky kills Detective Mike’s mother in a self-driving car when he takes over control.
Andy tells Karen everything and she thinks he’s crazy. Chucky broadcasts onto the TV a recording of Andy’s friends doubting his sanity as well. Karen makes Andy come to work with her on the opening day sale for the new “Buddi 2” release.
Shane’s severed head is found, and Mike recognizes the gift wrap. He knows Andy is involved. He grabs Andy and cuffs him. Meanwhile, things start going really wrong in the store as Chucky activates all the cloud-connect Kaslan toys, including all the new Buddi dolls. He talks to Andy through his hearing aid.
Before long, it’s just Andy and Chucky in the store, with Karen as a hostage…
Commentary
I’m not sure if this cgi doll is better than the original, but it is good in its own way. His ability to control electronic devices is an interesting addition, but it also makes him a little too powerful. With the ability to do a simple cloud upload, they’re ready-set for an endless number of sequels.
There’s no supernatural element, no dead serial killer, and a lot less humor. This is pretty much the same as any other robot-apocalypse film. It’s entertaining and worth a watch, but it’s really not a great reboot of the franchise.