The Chucky series is back with a 21st century twist. A combo doll/smart speaker/robot companion is popular with the kids, but one of them (thx to a disgruntled employee) is wrongly programmed. You know what that means and so does the audience. Things take a while to get going (or killing) and when they do, the attacks are just meh. There’s nothing original here and the focus on a trio of kids harkens to the Stranger Things audience, which is where this mildly violent version may be aimed. While it’s never dull, it’s also never scary and sometimes preposterous.
Easter Egg: When the boy is asked what he wants to name his doll, he blurts out “Luke Skywalker,” which is a pointed reference to the actor voicing the doll, Mark Hamill.
(2 / 5)