M3GAN: Play With Your Toys, Don’t Let Them Play You
Horror movies. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you can’t deny they can do some absolutely wacky stuff. Seriously it’s such a wide-ranging genre that it includes classic movies like The Exorcist to more modern niche pics like Smile. Anything can happen in these movies, and it is the sheer inventiveness of the genre that continues to interest me. The plot does not matter in a horror movie to me as long as we get to see something new and freaky play out on screen, and boy does M3GAN have something creepy for us to watch.
Blah blah I have to talk about the plot real quick Blah blah. The evil white girl from Get Out…okay fine her character’s name is Gemma… (Allison Williams) is a toy engineer. Her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) loses her parents in a horrific car accident and has to move in with her aunt. In an effort to connect with her, Cady builds a learning robot named M3GAN (Arnie Donald and Jenna Davis) that is able to connect with a child, comfort them, and protect them. Over time the bond between M3GAN and Cady becomes more and more dependent and unhealthy. And Gemma’s creation seems to be taking on a mind of its own and taking drastic measure to protect Cady. Will M3GAN become too powerful and intelligent for her owners to stop?
As discussed earlier, the new, exciting, creepy, and surprisingly funny thing here is M3GAN herself. The performances from Donald and Davis as titular doll are incredible and frankly make the movie as a whole. Their stalking and calculated movements make it really seem like this android is out to get you. Their delivery of M3GAN’s dialogue is can be both endearing in the early parts of the movie before M3GAN goes off the rails and downright terrifying when the little droid gal is in full on murder mode. Two scenes come to mind when I think about it Without the physical sense of fear they were able to create as M3GAN, it would be very difficult to get this movie off the ground.
But there is another layer to this M3GAN performance that I found incredibly hilarious. The idea of these lines and phrases coming out of the mouth of a tiny android woman was just laugh out loud funny to me. I do not think it detracted from the film either, but gave it a sense of levity and lightness to break up some of the heavier subject matter. Cady losing her parents and Gemma being forced to fit the role of guardian are difficult topics that the movie handles well. Allowing M3GAN to be totally unhinged and funny helps out the movie a bunch.
Story-wise, I do not think the plot is overly well-done. It is by no means bad, but it is not there to serve any incredible narrative or thematic purpose. Sure, Gemma has a growth arc of becoming more responsible and parenting, but this is really all about getting M3GAN in front of the camera so she can steal the show. Without her, the movie falls apart. And I okay with that. If your movie is titled after a specific character/thing it is alright that they are the most important thing in that movie.
7/10
Until I see another one