Summary:
Charles Lee Ray’s ex-girlfriend Tiffany resurrects the serial killing doll Chucky, and through a series of unfortunate events, becomes a doll herself. The two engage in a killing spree as they trek across the country towards Charles’ grave.
My Thoughts:
Even before I went into this film I knew that it would not be ‘good’ in the traditional sense of the word, but I knew that from it I would glean a fair amount of entertainment. The “Child’s Play” series is absolutely ridiculous, and that’s exactly why I keep coming back. “Bride of Chucky” is the fourth entry in the series, it’s easily the best one since the original “Child’s Play”, blowing entries two and three completely out of the water. Still, this movie is not at all good; it’s essentially an excuse to watch pointlessly graphic and incredibly farfetched deaths play out on screen with a bit of meta-humor tossed in. For someone with a weird, slightly twisted sense of humor (like myself), I got enough enjoyment out of it to warrant my hour and a half spent watching it, but I can’t say I’ll ever go out of my way to recommend this movie.
“How’d you end up like this?” “It’s a long story.” “Let me put it this way, if this were a movie it would take three or four sequels to do it justice.”
Shortly after Charles Lee Ray’s ex-girlfriend Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly, “Tideland”) bribes a cop to get Chucky (Brad Dourif, “Blue Velvet”) out of an evidence locker, stitches him back together, and resurrects him, she dies and her soul is transferred to a doll. Chucky and Tiffany hitch a ride with eloping high schoolers Jade (Katherine Heigl, “Knocked Up”) and Jesse (Nick Stabile) and traveling across the country to Hackensack, where Charles Lee Ray’s body is buried with an amulet that will help Chucky and Tiffany transfer their souls into Jade and Jesse.
So, one of my biggest problems with the Chucky sequels is that the way he comes back makes absolutely no sense. In “Child’s Play 2” some random guy just takes Chucky out of an evidence locker, refurbishes him, and puts him back out on the street for no reason. In “Child’s Play 3” Chucky’s resurrection was somewhat of an accident. In this film, it actually makes sense why Chucky comes back; the reason is pretty thin, but it at least makes sense. The stories in “Child’s Play 2” and “CP3” were both anemic; they remade the first film to a T, but without spending any time on the humor that made the first film worth watching. All Chucky tries to do is possess Andy Barclay, and he usually spends the first hour just wandering about, killing people offscreen.
This film seems to finally understand what it is the fans of the series are after: toys slaughtering people in creative ways. While the overall story is still thin, it at least makes sense why Chucky and Tiffany have to kill some of their victims- not all of them. The people they kill tend to get in their way, instead of just being random people thrown into the script by writer Don Mancini to add to the body count. The kills in this movie are also far more ridiculous and hilarious. The blood flows in gallons, and the way that the characters approach it- with such crass nonchalance, makes it even more apparent just how silly some of the things happening are.
As far as acting, no one really gives a standout performance. Katherine Heigl looks like she’s just happy to be a movie, while Jennifer Tilly (pre-transformation into doll) looks like she just wants her paycheck. The other people, whose names I’m largely unfamiliar with, gave performances that would feel right at home on a Sci-Fi channel movie of the week. Of course, no one comes here for the acting or even the story, they come for Chucky.
Chucky is probably at his best since the original film. He’s horribly cynical, he has tons of meta humor lines, the special effects are remarkably well done, and his overall appearances is so messed up from the beginning of the film that I found I was chuckling quietly to myself throughout. If you like Chucky as a character, then this is a breath of fresh air. If you don’t like Chucky, I have no idea why you’re reading this review.
Verdict:
So this movie sort of sucks, but I still kind of enjoy it. I enjoy this as I do later entries in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series; they’re good for a few laughs, and that’s about it. Sometimes you need movies like this. As much as I love Bergman and Tarkovsky, if I were to watch movies like theirs every day I’d end up depressed and humorless; movies like this are a good pallet-cleanser. Or, at least, for me they are.
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