Upgrade
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The actor would also prove to be a key
component to putting the fight sequences
together. The action scenes in the movie have
a very distinct look to them; a combination of
disorienting motion and shocking violence.
“I was aware that this would look strange,
I wanted that to be something that you could
hang a movie on,” explains Whannell. “I figured
out this idea that everything from the neck down
would be doing its own thing and then you
had this head on top of the body just watching
everything, like a passenger! It’s one thing to
write it down and it’s another thing to physically
enact it. We went through a long process of
Logan training and working with a movement
coordinator, working with a stunt team. I didn’t
want to use stuntmen, I wanted to use the actors
so we did a lot of choreography. And then
we also rigged the camera so that it would
lock to Logan, it would move with him. It was
just a process of combining different elements
from the camera department to the stunt team.
Everybody did their part to contribute to what
you actually see on the screen.”
The end result is something really striking, and
it’s been embraced by audiences. The summer
has been overloaded with blockbusters but the
tone and style of Upgrade struck a chord in the
US as great reviews and word of mouth drove it
to box office success which it looks set to repeat
here in the UK.
“It’s been great,” affirms Whannell. “You
know if you’re making an action film that you’re
competing with Marvel movies, movies that have
giant budgets. When you make a film, you make
a huge bet, you’re saying I’m going to spend all
this money and take up all these people’s time
and at the end of it, people around the world are
going to care. That’s the bet you’re making, that
all that money and time was worth it, because
a stranger in Leeds or Reykjavik or Wyoming is
going to pay to sit down in a theatre and watch
it. So, to go through all that and get to the end
and kind of white knuckle it through the release
process and see people react and say they like it
and see critics react is so gratifying.”Upgrade is in cinemas on 31 August.the role is an incredibly demanding one for an
actor. It requires a physicality as well as huge
emotional range, and Logan Marshall-Green
does an amazing job conveying everything that
Grey is going through, even finding unexpected
moments of humour.
“Logan was a godsend,” agrees Whannell.
“When it came to casting Upgrade we were
going through all these different names, some of
them big actors that are hard to get to, and I just
decided to go with the best actors and not wait
around for those names, so I got in touch with
Logan and I’m so glad I did. I don’t think the
film would have worked without Logan, what he
could do physically and the way he committed
to the part was amazing to watch, it was great.”
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