M3GAN (2023)

M3GAN (2023)

Tagline: Friendship has evolved.

(Horror, Sci-Fi, AI Is Out To Kill Us All) [PG-13]

This is the part where you run.

Ever since the “Living Doll” episode of the Twilight Zone and “Talky Tina”, I have been pretty intrigued with “dolls” as a horror vehicle. So when we started getting more “puppet” and “kids' toys” horror flicks, I have always been into those. CHILD’S PLAY 1,2,3 and THE CURSE OF CHUCKY are all more up my alley than the newer ones, but M3GAN looked pretty amazing in the previews so I decided to check it out. I think what I really wanted out of this was the vibe I got with the original CHILD’S PLAY movies and this one delivers in a far better way than the CHILD’S PLAY remake in 2019. 

I get that a lot of people probably would have preferred that this was a rated [R] movie, but there are tons of good PG-13 horror flicks out there. M3GAN stands for "Model 3 Generative Android". In this one, Cady and her mom and dad are on the way to go skiing when they are hit by another vehicle during a blizzard and both Cady’s parents are killed. She ends up under the guardianship of her mom’s sister Gemma who is a genius engineer behind the toys made by a major toy corporation called “FUNKI”. She is pitching a prototype four-foot realistic-looking AI doll that kids can play with, but it is not yet perfected. After discovering her parenting skills are woefully inadequate, she debuts M3GAN to Cady and the two become “paired”. It doesn’t take long before M3GAN’s incomplete AI gets homicidal, and will do anything to remain Cady’s “friend to the end”. 

The pacing in this movie is beyond good, but it is a bit of a slow burn as M3GAN starts to lose her little AI mind. I think one thing that helps this movie stand out is that unlike “Chucky” when he’s pissed, it’s hard to tell if M3GAN is going to hug you or kill you. She’s a lot like Sophia from MY NAME IS VENDETTA in the sense that she is super innocent looking, but might pull out a crayon and draw you a picture, or she might pull a weapon on you that will end your life. Another thing that really works for this movie is the soundtrack. We got a fantastic soundtrack in DO REVENGE, but one of the worst movies of 2022. With this, we got a similarly fantastic soundtrack and a very interesting slick, well-acted movie worthy of a series. 

Acting wise Cady is played by Violet McGraw who is only 12. She is solid in this role but isn’t a newcomer in spite of her age. She already got 18 movie and TV credits under her belt with 2 more projects on the way as of the writing of this review. Allison Williams stars as Gemma and is also very good. She is probably most famous for 2017’s GET OUT. Jen Van Epps plays one of the techs working with Gemma. She isn’t asked to show a ton of range, but I like what they did with her character in this. She is probably best known for the short-lived live-action COWBOY BEBOP TV series. The rest of the cast is all pretty great as well.

I love that they slid a bit of humor into this, but also played it pretty seriously to give the events that were going on some weight. We get to know most of the characters well enough to either be rooting for or against them. The idea overall isn’t unique in the sense that we just got a garbage CHILD’S PLAY movie in 2019 that involved AI, but this package is more intriguing and it’s just a better-executed movie overall. 

For me seeing a great horror flick after the mid-’90s is pretty rare, but this one is a solid 7 out of 7. I really hope we get a sequel. 

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