“M3GAN” - My Thoughts 💭

“M3GAN” is a light and kooky cautionary tale of our relationships with and reliance on technology and how this tends to get in the way of our much needed human relationships. This comedy/horror seems to be getting way too much acclaim and I’m not quite sure why. Have you seen it’s score on Rotten Tomatoes?! It’s at 94%! Yes - it is amusing, but it’s all been done before and possibly better than this.

It’s directed by Gerard Johnstone; the screenplay by Akda Cooper, working with a story by James Wan. What “M3GAN” does have going for it is its self-awareness of how comedic its creation of M3GAN is (it’s a ‘wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the audience) which is what makes it so easy to enjoy. Apparently there is already talk of a sequel being green-lit. It’s about a young girl named Cady (Violet McGraw) who goes to live with her inventor/roboticist aunt Gemma (Allison Williams) after the girl’s parents suddenly die in an accident. Gemma is working at a toy company on a new line of robot/AI, counter to her boss David’s (Ronny Chieng) demands, thus eventually creating M3gan as a friend for her niece. Let’s face it, Gemma is a crap caregiver and maybe the film is commenting on this as in ‘here’s your device/ games’ etc to the child, then they’re left alone for long periods of time everyday instead of the caregiver doing any parenting.

Regardless, M3gan is what Cady needs, something to keep her company, but also to be a friend and protector. After ‘pairing’ the prototype with her niece - it is, of course, not before long the AI is up to no good, after much bubbling tension between Gemma and Cady (who sides with her beloved AI ‘doll’). Gemma also has a neighbour Celia (Lori Dungey) with a pesky dog with the two neighbours going head to head. Eventually, M3gan’s ‘instability’ sees her covering her tracks and manipulating Gemma, as matters continue to snowball - it is finally up to her to protect her young niece from the seemingly unstoppable M3gan and find some redemption. Once the relationship between AI Doll and the niece develops, the tension between the niece and the Aunty becomes more interesting as does the film.

The performance by Allison Williams as Gemma (the Aunty) is not very sympathetic. It’s unfortunate her characterisation is so thin as she has significant screen time. Then again, perhaps she is simply supposed to appear as a negative caregiver to viewers. The real star here is M3gan. Let’s face it - she steals the show and she knows it! Made up of a combination of actress Amie Donald (schooled in the specific body movements you see on screen) paired with an elaborately detailed mask mixed with stunning CGI. Let’s not forget she is also voiced by Jenna Davis, so quite a lot of work has gone into M3gan’s creepy packaging. Her face is also intentionally amusing similar to one you would imagine of a young model changing their make up and filters for their Instagram snaps. The design of M3gan is incredibly life-like, and indeed more human-looking than the Chucky doll in the recent “Child’s Play” remake. There are a few scenes that had me laughing aloud that I wish I could rewind at the cinema, but I expect many of these are going around on YouTube and social media, such as the campiness of the scene where M3gan sings Sia’s chart topper “Titanium” like a lullaby to Cady (the lyrics in this scene hold hilarious meaning). See the modified scene below.

At the end of the day this isn’t new, but at least it is fun and light-hearted. While I’m not especially big on any of the original “Child’s Play” series of films, I did however enjoy the recent remake in 2019 with Aubrey Plaza playing the mum, yet it was the doll I really empathised with. There was a little more depth to the characterisation of Chucky by making the AI doll not evil per se, but rather a morally confused entity that is a by-product of the humans in its ‘life’. The film was super-clever at times and an absolute indictment of the negative effects of technology, more so than this year’s “M3GAN” has any intention of being. Additionally, the recent “Child’s Play” was also more scary and suspenseful which “M3GAN” isn’t really attempting to be; it’s all more for laughs. After all, the film is M-rated (PG-13 in the States) so relatively mild in its depiction of violence. I believe a few scenes were modified so it would appeal to a wider audience, yet the writer hopes the film will “eventually have the unrated cut” (“M3GAN” IMDB page). On the whole, it is definitely worth seeing for a good laugh.

I’m giving “M3GAN” ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

You can also check out my recent review for “The Whale” below as well as the trailer for “M3GAN”: