'Child's Play' TV Spot: There's Something Wrong With Chucky

Little by little, the marketing for the Child's Play remake has been giving us clearer glimpses of the new Chucky. A new TV spot continues that trend, revealing Chucky brandishing a big knife and causing plenty of mayhem. Will it be enough to win over the skeptics? Decide for yourself by watching the new Child's Play TV spot below.

If you've been following my coverage of Child's Play here at /Film, you know by now I'm conflicted about this film. As a big fan of the original, still on-going franchise, this entire endeavor bothers me a bit. And yet, the film has attracted strong talent (Aubrey Plaza! Brian Tyree Henry! Mark Hamill!), and the footage released so far has been surprisingly good.

I'm still not sold on the new Chucky though. Mark Hamill is a great choice to provide the voice, and I'm happy director Lars Klevberg used a puppet to bring Chucky to life instead of resorting to CGI. But the brief footage of that puppet doesn't quite seem right – and I can't put my finger on why. Is it because this new Chucky has a huge head? Or is it the glowing eyes? I really don't know. All I know is that when I look back at the original Child's Play, released in 1988, the Chucky puppet in that film looks like it's alive. I'm not getting that here. But I'm going to see the damn movie anyway, so I guess the Child's Play remake has done its job.

Like the original, Child's Play follows a single mom who gives her son a doll – a doll that turns out to be deadly. The 1988 Child's Play had its killer doll possessed by a serial killer, but the 2019 version adds a twist: the doll has A.I. that goes rogue, making it more of a killer robot. According to Klevberg, his new development allows the new Chucky to be more...sympathetic. "He had his motivations, and it came through his interaction with humans," the director said. "His way of becoming sympathetic – that was something I really wanted to look into. I viewed the story as a Greek tragedy."

Sure! Why not?

Child's Play opens June 21.