#FirstImpressions - Chucky: "I'm still psychopath, funny too, but now I defend downtrodden gays!" (edited after 2nd episode)

 

I was spending time on Twitter, after seeing a very charming movie on YouTube, called "Like Sun, Like Rain" (review here), when I see the word "homophobic" in the most cited, I mean, in the trending topics. I'm going to see what it's about, hoping that I'm not faced with another cowardly murder, and then I see an unexpected acclaim from a series that, if I knew it was being produced, completely escaped my memory.

"Chucky", the tweets said, was now killing homophobes and, for that reason alone, the series already deserved attention and is worthy of being celebrated. The series is "woke", so it's already good (we all know that's not quite the way things are, but it's Twitter, let's face it).

Completely shocked by the information (which came with the news  that the doll is now the father of a doll as well — of course, human it wouldn't be — of a fluid gender, Glen/Glena), I went in search of watching it. However, the series only opens here in Brazil on October 27th, on Star+. Then I:

A) I activated my contacts from the SyFy channel, responsible for the production, and asked them to send me the first episode, to which I was promptly answered

or

B) I went to some torrent website see if it was there, and watched it.

One of the two hypotheses occurred.

The fact is that I watched this first episode and I found a few things:

- "Chucky" doesn't want to and can't take himself too seriously. It was never a franchise made for thinking. This will not change now.

- You can almost hear the director saying: "It's not because you don't take yourself seriously that we're going down to total ridicule. Let's have some common sense."

Synopsis:

Jake Wheeler (Zachary Arthur) is fourteen, a dead mother and an alcoholic, violent, homophobic father. He's gay and not cool, which makes him a target of bullying at school, at home, and just about anywhere he goes in the city of Hackensack, the typical American suburb that looks normal and perfectly structured families, but which, in fact, is full of hypocrisy and dark secrets. After Jake buys the doll at a garage sale, murders begin to happen around him, turning his life into chaos and terrifying the community.

As you can see, the synopsis is the same as in almost every film of the franchise. The difference is only one, and crucial: Chucky now (at first, at least) doesn't want to transport himself into the body of the person he's tormenting, he wants to protect him. Or at least that's what he wants to convince us he's doing. Like every psychopath, he may just be manipulating Jake (and the audience) into covering up his murders.

The nonsense comedy is present as well as in every film in the franchise. However, with more critical tones. Chucky doesn't just want to cause panic wherever he goes. Now he wants to cause reflection, even if it's fleeting and even naive.

Series created and written by Don Mancini, same creator and screenwriter of the original 1988 film and others in the franchise.

One thing that caught my attention right away was that, at least well filmed, with decent direction and set design, this series was made. There is even a care in lighting and photography to not overdo it, but also not to look silly or childish.

The character composition work has impressed me positively, for now.

Jake's father, played by Devon Sawa, (also acting as the successful twin brother), for example, is indeed a caveman, but one realizes he is at the same time, worried about his son's future and, probably, homophobia is more confusion and misdirected grief than real hatred of homosexuality. Deeply unhappy and lost, not knowing how to ask for help, he consequently ends up making the child unhappy.

The actress who plays Jake's science teacher was also a welcome surprise. I want to see Annie Briggs more often. I didn't know her, but in the short screen time she had, she showed charisma and talent for a character who could almost be an extra with a few lines.

Alyvia Alyn Lind, who gives life to "mean girl" Lexy Taylor, no longer attracted me much with her performance. The character just looks like that old school queen stereotype who is popular and bad person because she is. But, remember, it was only the first episode of the series that will have ten. However, in the same first episode, Teo Briones, who plays Junior Wheeler, Jake's arrogant cousin, gave him slightly more complex connotations. It is noticed that he does not feel comfortable with his parents and the pressure to enter Harvard (yes, the boy is fourteen and is already burdened with the responsibility of entering the so-called best university in the country) is remarkable, what he ends up doing dump your frustration on your cousin. The problem may be in the script,and the biggest sign of this is the caricatured and forced form of bullying that the character does. Lexy is not only stereotyped, her actions are almost pathetic and her peers' laughter doesn't sound believable. If this is to create even more empathy for the protagonist, in my case it just made me irritated with the screenwriter. 

But still, all the other actors, however one-sided their characters, delivered a more satisfying performance than Alyvia.

Except for the teenage actress, the entire debut episode pleased me a lot and I hope it continues to go well until its conclusion. We'll still have guest appearances by Jennifer Tilly and Alex Vincent reprising their roles (Tiffany Valentine and Andy Barclay, respectively) and I can't forget Brad Dourif, who voiced the puppet in the 1988 film, and returned brilliantly to the role.

I can't rate it yet, after all, it's the first impressions of the first episode. However, if it continues with this good pace, the good performances (mostly), the humour, and the script only improve a little, I'll definitely give it a grade a little above average. Chucky is not magnificent, but it's intention, in my opinion, was never that. It wasn't in the movies, it won't be on TV. If what intends, as it seems, is to make funny killings and that, in addition to having fun with the bizarre, also gives a small, even friendly a slap on the wrist to that older fan who still thinks it's nice to have archaic thoughts, including homophobic ones. Yes, the series is made by and aimed at teenagers, and aims to introduce Child's Play to a new audience, but, certainly, it knows there are a lot of thirty and forty who will also watch out of pure nostalgia, and it is on this target that Chucky focuses his criticism. And, as a meme in Brazil says: Wrong he isn't !

In time: I'm seeing an inappropriate interpretation by the audience that is bothering me.

Chucky has always had at least some gay characters in the movies, even Don Mancini, creator of the franchise, is gay. The problem is, now, Chucky is being hailed as a hero. In the second episode, which aired this Tuesday, the 19th, he intimidates and beats Jake, and yet, there are those who say it's right, it's "for his own good" (?) and that Chucky just wants to protect the boy. There's just one detail: The Killer Doll is a psychopath, he's using the boy. Only that. He may have, at most, attachments, like for Tiffany and Glen/Glena, but don't think he won't be able to send the protagonist to prison for his crimes or even kill him if he gets in the way of his killing thirst. . Psychopaths don't care for anyone, don't love anyone, no matter what flag they fly.