Blumhouse Productions latest outing combines the Artificial Intelligence of A.I. and the Killer Robots/Androids of Terminator into a surprisingly funny and not too un-bloody horror flick, in M3GAN.
Get Out‘s Allison Williams and The Black Phone‘s Violet McGraw team up to take down the homicidal human-like android from the not-too-distant future.
The Plot – M3GAN
Gemma is at the top of her business. A cutting edge toy developer/computer programmer; Gemma, played by Allison Williams, has a hit toy on her hands that’s so popular, others try to make cheap knockoffs to steal her thunder.
Gemma’s toys use trailblazing Artificial Intelligence that’s so advanced, her pet robots seem almost life-like. And now, she’s working hard to come up with the NEXT hit toy — one so advanced you’ll NEVER need to buy another plaything for your kids.
Gemma’s niece, Cady, however, isn’t doing so well. After losing her parents, she’s forced to live with her aunt, who’s not the most nurturing caregiver a kid could hope for.
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Cady, played by Violet McGraw, slowly withdraws inside herself — having no one to share her grief or sorrow with. That is, until she meets M3GAN.
M3GAN, or ‘Model 3 Generative Android’ — who doesn’t love a clever acronym? — is designed to bond with a kid; and adapt to best serve and protect her. The M3GAN prototype shows early promise, but eventually warts start to pop up.
This is a horror film, after all! But, the ‘how’, ‘when’, and ‘why’ the killer doll starts killing keeps the film interesting. And, provides for some of the funniest moments in this horror/comedy.
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The Good – M3GAN
The Comedic Moments
There’ve been plenty of movies about killer dolls and artificial intelligence going awry, before. A.I., Terminator, Child’s Play, and Anabelle are just a few of the science fiction, action, and horror films that have plowed this ground before.
But, none of the above mentioned classics have played up the comedy factor as much as M3GAN. When you start a film joking about ‘perpetual pets’ living longer than the kids who own them, you know THIS Horror film will be different.
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The Comedic moments sprinkled through M3GAN don’t make the film an out-and-out Comedy, but they do up the ‘fun’ factor, AND allow for tons of Commentary about the dangers of AI, without bringing the tone of the film down.
Without the Comedic moments, the heaviness of the Commentary could double down on the heaviness caused by the horror. But, the Comedy allows the message to be sent without bashing you over the head with it. And, it lets the PG-13 horror elements build the suspense in a more palatable way for the relatively young audience.
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The M3GAN Doll
I always love to see how production designers introduce the ‘creep’ to the bad guy in a horror film. And, the M3GAN doll is no exception.
It’s such a delicate line to walk. Too creepy, and the bad guy can appear more funny than scary. But, if it’s not creepy enough, the sense of foreboding can be a lot harder to achieve and maintain.
The M3GAN doll straddles the line well… With the large eyes and smooth complection, the doll’s face has the familiar look of a doll, with the vacant eyes of a soulless robot. The dolls’ facial expressions show more feeling than we normally see on robots, but the timing of the expressions and placement of the muscles is slightly off.
Well get the perfect balance of fun and freaky, creepy and cute. And the M3GAN doll makes for a great horror villain.
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The Bad – M3GAN
Gemma
Allison Williams does a great job with Gemma, but the character lacks an emotional impact of any kind.
Gemma is a highly intelligent, dedicated career professional, but shortly after we meet her, she finds out her Sister is dead and she must adopt her Niece. But, instead of having any sort of a normal emotional reaction, she seems annoyed that she’s missing work.
We get no sorrow at the loss of a sibling. We get no sympathy for a little girl that just lost her parents. We only get Gemma irritated that her work schedule has gotten delayed. We don’t even get her in shock or denial. She acts as if everything is normal.
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We get an indication that she didn’t have the closest relationship with her Sister, but that’s counteracted by her having made a commitment to be Cady’s godmother. She even fights off the idea that Cady could go live with her father’s parents, yet she seems put upon HAVING to care for her flesh and blood.
I feel this is not so much an acting choice as a Directing choice by Gerard Johnstone given the way the script is written and how the other characters respond to Gemma. And, it feels like the wrong call for the character.
Yes, this has the effect of deepening Cady’s reliance on M3GAN, but distancing Cady from Gemma was not necessary to establish a closeness with M3GAN. The same thing could have been attributed to how the advanced programming of M3GAN made the connection.
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The Review – M3GAN
M3GAN puts a fun and fresh spin on the old ‘killer doll’/’killer robot’ trope.
We get a steady stream of Comedy lightening the tone and adding Commentary about artificial intelligence and humanity’s reliance on technology. This offsets a noted lack of blood and low body count for the PG-13 Horror movie, giving M3GAN a different look and feel than other movies in the genre.
The ‘Perpetual Pets’ invention flows logically into the creation of M3GAN, and Ronny Chieng’s slightly sleazy portrayal of Gemma’s boss adds urgency and pressure helping move the story along.
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The relatively low body count pairs well with a focus on character development and story. Johnstone refuses to rush the storytelling process, letting the film ‘earn’ the impact of the fewer deaths having a bigger impact.
Gemma’s lack of emotional intelligence and empathy for her niece doesn’t quite fit well with the story. Given how Gemma programs M3GAN to read human emotion, it doesn’t make much sense that she would have very little emotion herself. This is not to say she lacks the ability to have human, just that she doesn’t seem to give a frack about the emotions of others or even the death of her sister.
The film is set in Seattle, and yet Gemma’s home has palm trees surrounding it and what seems like perpetually sunny weather. As a Seattle native, I didn’t buy the Seattle location for one second; and given how much the story oddly doubles down on the specificity of the location; this feels like a seemingly avoidable distraction from the focus of the film.
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Great concept that feels less and less ‘science fiction’ or ‘near future’, and more present day as the film goes along.
Not perfect, but a good amount of fun. Not the kind of film that will be remembered in 10 years, but I won’t be surprised if this is the first film in an eventual long-running horror franchise.
Worth a watch. Worth seeing in theaters for a closeup look at the creepy face of the M3GAN doll/robot/android. But, not a perfect/can’t miss film.
