Photo: Orion Pictures Child’s Play, the new slasher reboot of the Chucky franchise, directed by Lars Klevberg, half works. Garish Christmas lights and drones equipped with razors — both of which feature in the film as fantastic weaponry — are amusing, but they’re only as effective as the limp horror story around it. Unfortunately, Child’s Play is undone by a lack of tension even its best performances can’t conjure, and a familiar story that only skips lightly along the surface of gnarly ideas.
Even as Chucky’s inexplicable death plot roiled on, I couldn’t help but be charmed by the cast’s spunky line readings — like early on, when Plaza, with mock insouciance, jokes about being a juvenile mother: “I had a very productive sweet sixteen.” But Tyler Burton Smith’s script hardly challenges either of the adult actors, both of whom have proven to be magnetic performers adept at comedy and drama. Suspense is nowhere to be found in this screenplay.