It's been years since Chucky, the doll with the soul and the voice (Brad Dourif) of a psychopathic killer, was apparently destroyed in a fire at a doll factory. Now Chucky's manufacturer is remaking the same line of toys with the old, still haunted materials. This resurrects Chucky, who goes after Andy (Justin Whalin), his former owner, who now attends military school. Chucky slashes his way through a string of grotesque murders as Andy tries to stop the homicidal doll and the spirit within it.
Watching through this film franchise, it's quite interesting to note the ever-increasing themes of corporate accountability and preservation of the status quo. Each sequel begins with the Play Pals Company and discusses the negative effects that the events of the previous film have had, while continually showcasing the board members apparent greed and push for profits as the catalyst that consistently leads to the return of Chucky (while it actually sets up the possibility of multiple Chucky's, this isn't realised until 2017's Cult of Chucky). Adding to that, every single level of authority being unwilling to accept the events as they happened, and pushing the characters into insane asylums, foster care, and in this case, military school.
Creativity is something that the Chucky franchise does quite well. From the title sequence to the creative deaths with their associated dialogue, the Child's Play franchise is always trying to bring something new. In the case of Child's Play 3, coming out only a year after Child's Play 2, there was a clear effort from writer Don Mancini to do something different. The decision was to follow in the example of the climax of Child's Play 2 and change the location of the entire film from a home environment to that of a military school, as well as incorporating a time jump to focus the violence on teenagers rather than children.
These are interesting choices, as the violence against children was one of the things that the film was constantly being criticised for, so using a teen cast brings a more "socially acceptable" age bracket of violence. The time skip also allows a different actor to be cast in the role of Andy, because yes, this film is still a part of the same storyline of Chucky vs Andy. I do love continuity.
By this point in the franchise, Chucky has finally gotten his craft down to an art; Playing "Doll" until he has the element of surprise and instantly going on the attack. No waiting around, no slow stalking throughout half of the film. This is the film where Chuck figures out his trademark method of delivery and has some of his classic lines ("Don't f*ck with the Chuck!"). So there is much to love about the film, but it still polarizes the audience an is generally considered the worst of the three Child's Play films.
The whole military environment creates its own mix of interesting situations and obstacles. The biggest difference being the unknown layouts, and the larger number of people involved. Where the previous films have all been within family homes, this military academy is an environment that will be new, unknown, and lack relatability to many people in the audience. The large cast means that we don't get to spend as much time with each person, so the development of the characters is much less (exacerbated by the fact that these are complete strangers and not even members of a family). This latter issue affects the engagement level of the viewer, and lower engagement means we don't actually care what happens to anyone.
With a new non-home environment and random strangers as the main cast, despite Chucky being able to go on a killing spree from the start of the film, the pacing is definitely much slower due to the amount of time spent trying to develop and explain scenarios. This also means less time is spent on Chucky's killings, with many of the deaths not really getting a satisfying payoff or resolution.
The climax of the scene is definitely another big set piece, but feels quite forced, following too many of the same lines as the factory scene in Child's Play 2. Imaginative design, with some great lighting, but ultimately a poor carbon copy of the brilliant scene in its predecessor.
The cinematography in the franchise so far has been great, with a lot of POV shots from Chucky's perspective mixed in with general shots that follow the main protagonist Andy. The mix of shots keeps the energy and suspense levels up throughout the films.
Child's Play 3 is still a fun film, despite the change in environment and less than engaging characters. There is still a sick and twisted, sadistic nature to Chucky's killings, though his dark humour continually pushes his m.o. towards ironic ways to kill his victims.