M3GAN – Movie Review
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Writer: Akela Cooper (Screenplay)
Writer: James Wan (Story)
Cast
- Allison Williams (Get Out)
- Violet McGraw (Doctor Sleep)
- Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians)
- Amie Donald (Sweet Tooth)
- Brian Jordan Alvarez (A Spy Movie)
Plot: A robotics engineer at a toy company builds a life-like doll that begins to take on a life of its own.
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: M3GAN starts when Cady (McGraw) is involved in a car accident that kills her parents. She must move in with her Aunt Gemma (Williams) a brilliant toy designer. The two struggle to bond, Gemma finding it difficult to adjust to a massive work project due.
Gemma turns to her project a life-like doll named M3gan to help in the process. Cady and M3gan because best friends but as the A.I. becomes more intelligent. M3gan becomes more dangerous and Gemma questions her own creation.
Verdict on M3GAN
Characters
Gemma is a brilliant robotic engineer who works for a toy company. She is leading a team to create the next breakthrough technology for children’s entertainment. Gemma takes in her niece after her sister is killed and struggles to connect to her. She uses her creation to try and connect with Cady, leading it to get a chance for her to become famous because of her design.
Cady is a young girl that sees her parents killed in an accident. She is broken and moves in with her Aunt, showing her depression because of the accident. Cady gets to interact with M3gan and becomes attached to her not wanting to go anywhere without her. She is going through so much after the tragedy in her life, this new life finds her feeling so distant from everyone.
M3gan is a robotic doll with a massive A.I. creation that is meant to lead to the next level of A.I. capabilities. It comes off as a friendly figure in Cady’s life, however, it believes it needs to protect her from any pain. This sees the character crossing the lines of robotic laws to stop Cady from being hurt. A brand-new creation for the horror world is always welcome and M3gan is a welcome addition.
In the supporting characters, we get to meet Gemma’s boss who only thinks about money. Her team challenges her decisions along the way and a therapist that is here to help with the transition.
Performances
Ashley Williams is great in the leading role, she shows her distant relationship with people. This role shows that her character is better with technology than human interaction. It does feel like a natural struggle to connect.
Violet McGraw is young Cady is wonderful too, she has so much to bring to her character. The pain she has been through, as she closes off from the world.
In the rest of the cast, we get strong performances from the whole cast, as we are thrown into the corporate world. Amie Donald should get a massive shout-out for her performance as M3gan and Jenna Davis as the voice of M3gan.
Story
The story follows a robotic engineer that becomes a guardian to her niece. She uses her latest creation to help her adjust to her new life, as a new toy could redefine the world. This spirals out of control when the doll starts to think for itself and deal with problems in a deadly manner.
The movie brings a new horror icon to life, while tackling serious trauma in children. It has Cady who has been through an unthinkable experience at a young age, needing to deal with her own pain. The movie does a great job of balancing real emotion with the evolving A.I. In the end this is a great story, bringing everything to the table for an emotional horror experience.
Themes
M3GAN is a horror movie that uses a new horror creation in M3gan to create a horror icon for the modern era. The movement and interactions become more sinister as the movie unfolds. It uses everything to create the robotic uncomfortable reaction to meet her. This is seen throughout the film as different characters’ first reaction to meeting her. The violence is held back to maintain a lower age rating, but the movie doesn’t need anything to be more over-the-top than what we get.
Final Thoughts – M3GAN is a welcome addition to the killer doll creations in horror.
