Frenetic revenge thriller 'Upgrade' takes STEM to a whole new level

“Upgrade” - ★ ★ ★

The most disturbing take-away from Leigh Whannell's cyberpunked exploitation action thriller “Upgrade” might be that technology won't have to wage war to gain control of us and dictate our moral and ethical decisions.

Nope. We citizens will hand over our bothersome free will with the same level of thought we use when clicking on those never-read “terms of use” disclaimers on computers.

Granted, this Terminator-inspired “Death Wish” tale of revenge doesn't give us anything new with its lowdown on high-tech, but Whannell, energetically directing from his original screenplay, whips the story along at Jason Bourne velocity, turning its sizable plotholes into enjoyable speed bumps.

Merge the hyper-stylized combat sequences from “The Matrix” with headier elements from sci-fi's “Colossus: The Forbin Project,” add a crimson splash of David Cronenberg's “Videodrome” and you'd roughly get “Upgrade.”

Set in the near-future, “Upgrade” takes place in a city where police drones outnumber birds in the sky.

A presumably happy couple, technophobic vintage automobile enthusiast Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) and his wife (Melanie Vallejo) become victims of a vicious parking lot assault. Several spooky-looking guys kill her, then shoot him in the head.

But Trace doesn't die.

Now a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair, the angry Trace, seeking answers and revenge, sets out to find the assailants while local cops, repped by the dedicated Detective Cortez (Betty Gabriel, splendidly memorable in “Get Out!”), remain clueless, despite having access to the most omnipresent surveillance equipment in law enforcement history.

A creepy high-tech guru named Eron (Harrison Gilbertson) offers Trace a RoboCop-out option: a surgically implanted revolutionary computer chip called STEM, attached to his spinal column.

Eron invokes one of those pesky “terms of use” notifications. Trace can't tell anyone about STEM and can't be seen in public unless he stays in his wheelchair.

Trace agrees. STEM not only restores Trace's mobility, it amps up speed and power of movement. That's not all.

One day, a startled Trace hears STEM's voice inside his head. And he sounds just like Douglas Rain's deadpan delivery as HAL 9000 from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Off go Trace and STEM to solve the mystery of the homicidal attack, a quest fraught with narrative Trojan horses, red herrings, gory fights and insane car chases.

Whannell, the creative force behind the “Saw” thrillers and “Insidious” chillers, gleefully exploits rich opportunities for dark comedy, especially when wheelchair-bound Trace talks tough to an even tougher clientele at a bar.

Marshall-Green, who bears a strong resemblance to actor Tom Hardy, goes full-throttle with a character that could have been played by horror star Bruce Campbell back in his “Evil Dead” days.

Marshall-Green's reactions of disbelief at what STEM makes Trace do are priceless, humanizing moments, ones that anchor Whannell's fantastic, frenetic tale that gives new literal meaning to “hand guns” and “well-armed.”

<b>Starring:</b> Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Benedict Hardie, Melanie Vallejo

<b>Directed by:</b> Leigh Whannell

<b>Other:</b> A Universal Pictures release. Rated R for language and violence. 95 minutes