Ten years has passed since serial killer Charles "Chucky" Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) imparted his soul into a child's doll when his old girlfriend, Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) rescues his fan blade sliced parts from a police impound. She brings him back to life so they can be together but upon learning of his true intentions she locks him up. By true intentions I'm referring to the fact that he didn't intend to marry her. She's a serial killer too. Chucky escapes, murders Tiffany and reincarnates her as her own doll. Chucky then tells Tiffany just how they can both be human again. They must travel to New Jersey to where Ray is buried, dig up the body and retrieve the amulet we saw in Child's Play, Child's Play 2 and Child's Play 3. How it managed to be buried with his human body is beyond me since he used it over and over and said human body had been buried since the start of the first film. Anyway Chucky and Tiffany manage to trick young Jade (Katherine Heigl) and Jesse (Nick Stabile) to travel down to Jersey so they can take over their bodies.
Part of the biggest problem with this franchise is that they never truly explored the dark humor. Sure as Chucky killed someone he'd give some silly, little throw-away line and go on pretending to be just a doll. This was true for three movies until this film. Here they have officially accepted the ridiculousness of a child's doll committing a series of grisly murders. They have now finally realized that a film full of just horrible things is just that. A horrible thing. You must add humor, however dark to make the audience feel safe before you hit them with a scare. It's called playing your audience like a piano and it's one of the principal goals of a film. To affect your audience.
That being said. I have a few criticisms. As with the first few films it is largely a showcase for well-executed puppetry and visual effects than it actually is with any true ability for directing or acting with certain exceptions (Dourif has a voice like a garbage disposal and utilizes it to great effect and Tilly's scenes are oddly funny and a little twisted). Ronny Yu is a director whose filmography showcases some brilliantly made hits (The Bride with White Hair) and some utter flops of epic magnitude (Freddy Vs. Jason). Here he coasts slowly but doesn't wow me or make me hate his work in any way. Almost as though he's nervous of ruining a franchise that was already ruined. From Child's Play 3 (rock bottom) the only way to go is up. Perhaps that's why I don't hate as much as my past responses dictate I do.
Or perhaps it's the fact that I actually find Chucky, an animatronic puppet, to have more life and charisma than any of the other slasher villains. At the end of the day you want your audience to enjoy watching your villain despite all the horrible, awful things they may do. Jason is a hockey puck.
★★★
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