“Child’s Play” Blu-ray Review: Had Potential But Couldn’t Deliver

The moment the promotional material began releasing online, I could tell that the Child’s Play reboot wasn’t going to replicate the success of the original. I’m not saying it’s bad. It did have potential, but it just couldn’t deliver.

I was provided a free copy of Child’s Play from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for review. The opinions are my own. 

So, with Child’s Play now available on Blu-ray and DVD, should you consider picking it up? I guess, especially if you don’t have anything else to watch this weekend and are in the mood for something with gore and some thrilling moments.

I can kind of appreciate the reboot wanting to stand apart from the original, but I do think they went the wrong away about it. I’m not against the current movie offering a bit of social commentary about how we have allowed technology to take over our lives. However, when you’re planning on rebooting Child’s Play (a well-known franchise), you need to have something that connects it to the original premise. Chucky being alive is all about the supernatural and taking that out for the reboot made no sense to me.

As I said before, I’m not here for a film featuring what are basically mini-Terminator dolls. In an effort to modernize the franchise, the reboot lost its core.

Having said that, the film does have its moments and a couple of enjoyable kills. Seeing Chucky progress into a crazed serial killer was interesting. He wasn’t a psycho-murderer from the beginning (like he was in the original). The reboot showed Chucky developing his skills as he moved from killing a domestic animal to humans.

Coming to the home release, the Blu-ray offers 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The visuals are great during the darker (low-light) sequences. You won’t have trouble figuring out what’s happening on the screen. All of the gore is quite clear. So, the home release delivers when it comes to video as well as audio presentation. If only the movie had been better.

The Child’s Play Blu-ray Bonus Features are:

• Audio Commentary by Lars Klevberg
• The Making of Child’s Play
• Bringing Child’s Play‘s Chucky to Life
• Soundtrack Trailer
• Lee Hardcastle Claymations
  • Toy Massacre
  • A.I. Mayhem
• Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer

I would recommend you consider picking up the Blu-ray for the commentary alone. Klevberg offers some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits as well as filmmaking advice. As I’ve mentioned, I appreciate the reboot wanting to try something new, but it just couldn’t hit the mark.

The “Bringing Child’s Play Chucky to Life” featurette is enjoyable to watch. Seeing all of the hard work that went into making this film just made me wish the final cut was better than it was.

The featurette with claymations shows Chucky on a killing spree and it’s quite fun to watch.

I do think if the reboot decided to mesh the commentary on the dangers of technology with the supernatural aspects of a possessed doll, Child’s Play would have been received very differently.

One thing’s for sure, the Child’s Play franchise, from (queer) director and screenwriter Don Mancini, isn’t going anywhere.

And yes, I do think not having Mancini be involved in the reboot (in some capacity) was a mistake.

Feel free to share your thoughts with us.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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