M3GAN (2023)

It's been a while.

There's a reason. Or a few reasons. Suffice to say: the Pandemic depressed me. More than I originally realized at the time. One of the side effects of that depression was the complete loss of interest in the things that brought me joy. Namely: writing and drawing. I started to feel pressure to keep churning out content. And then it wasn't as fun any more. 

I tried to get a big fancy website. And I hated it.

I tried sticking to a schedule. And I hated it.

I forgot that I started doing this because it was fun. And some of my friends really enjoy reading my thoughts. I'm not sure why I deluded myself into thinking this was ever anything more than what I started it as: a way for me to talk about movies, even when I only have myself to talk to.

But recently, I've started to get the itch again. And so, ya know, new year, new me, right?

I though the very best way to bring this blog back to life was to write about a movie that proved to me that movies can still be pleasantly surprising, and that original IP still has a place out there in Hollywoodland.

I'm talking, of course, about M3GAN (2023).

What is it?

M3GAN (2023) is the story of a toy engineer who takes custody of her niece after a terrible tragedy. In order to try and connect better with her niece, she activates a prototype robotic toy, nicknamed M3GAN. The "toy" is run by an adaptive AI. Without spoiling anything: Chaos ensues. This is a horror-comedy, so, while there are some chills and thrills, and even some heady ideas, mostly the movie revels in its own absurdity.

The Good Stuff

It Knows Exactly What It Is

Akela Cooper and James Wan know exactly what kind of story they are telling. Their script, directed by Gerard Johnstone, serves comedy and thrills in equal measure, all capably and comfortably in a PG-13 package. Not a lot of films can pull off PG-13 horror, but M3GAN (2023) does it admirably. M3GAN kills, don't you worry: she uses a variety of unique items to do so, as well (a paper cutter blade, weed killer, and others). But the movie also allows there to be truly absurd, belly-laugh moments: we've all seen the now-viral dancing sequence, but when M3GAN tries to comfort her ward by breaking out into an a cappella rendition of "Titanium," or when she tries to intimidate by playing a menacing cover of "Toy Soldiers" on a baby piano, I couldn't help but cackle in my seat. 

I really liked how the film didn't languish or revel in its violence, either: we know people die, we see just enough of the brutality. Leaving a lot of it to our own imagination is a master stroke. Full disclosure: M3GAN kills a child and a dog in this movie. I think that showing us those sequences would have been too much, and probably would have harshed the film's vibe. I've read an R-rated version is on the way, but I don't know that the movie needs it.

The film gets its one F-bomb, and deploys it with incredible, hilarious precision. I won't spoil it.

Heady Ideas That Don't Preach

This movie can be enjoyed as a straight-forward horror-comedy romp. It runs a cool 102 minutes, and doesn't waste its time. There are character beats, and set-ups and pay offs. A sequel seed is cleverly planted in a believable manner.  

But if you wanted to THINK about it, there's plenty to chew on. M3GAN is sold to the corporate big wigs as a kind of parental replacement: "... so you can get back to what matters most to you" a character says during a sales pitch, while Johnstone cuts to a scene of Allison Williams plopping down on a couch with her laptop, while her niece plays with M3GAN elsewhere. This begs the question: if you aren't doing the "work" of parenting (reminders to brush teeth, explaining difficult ideas, discipline, etc), and all you do with that spare time is connect yourself to a digital screen of your own, what is the point? What do you really want? What does it really mean to parent? M3GAN (2023) wisely never gets bogged down in these issues, but it presents them for the audience to mull over on their own terms. I love it when movies do this.

At one point, a victim even begs, of the murderous toy, "Who are you?" And M3GAN responds, "I've been thinking about that a lot, lately." It's a joke that does double duty as a pithy one-liner, in the grand tradition of horror genre tropes, but it also suggests that M3GAN is becoming self-aware, and attempting to reckon with her own agency as a living being. IS she a living being? DOES she have agency in this situation? Are all of her actions just lines of code?

A Wonderful New Villain

M3GAN is a wonderful addition to the horror villain canon. She's clearly going through her own issues: her programmed sense of "motherhood," her developing "personhood," and the betrayal of her creator and the person she has been tasked with protecting. She has proper motivation. And, unlike Chucky, she poses a believable threat. I always felt I could just punt Chucky across a room if I had to. But if M3GAN were coming after me? I'd be really scared. Her AI is adaptive; she's connected to the WIFI, and, thusly, all our gadgets; her body is artificial and state-of-the-art, and as such would not tire or be subject to fatigue or the limitations of a human body; she's small enough to be stealthy, but not so small that she could be obviously overcome. And as a real AI program, her inevitable resurrection and return are entirely believable. She could come after this family again, or be foisted on another unsuspecting victim. Time and time again, thanks to corporate greed, or her own survival instincts. This series has real promise. If they don't run it right into the ground.

Also: shout out to incredible puppetry and practical effects. M3GAN could easily have become a CG mess, but the production and art department did a solid with an incredibly designed puppet, and some excellent performers. There are a number of times where the movie cuts to M3GAN's face, and she tells a whole damn story with a lifted eyebrow, or a well-timed squint. It could have been cheesy and ineffective, but the movie pulls it off every time. So good.

The Bad Stuff

Not A Whole Lot

Look, I always try to have some bad things to balance out the good. To be thorough. To be fair. But M3GAN (2023) does a damn good job of not wasting any of its screen time, by not reveling in cruelty or torture porn, and by toeing a fine line between chills, belly-laughs, and thoughtful discourse.

I could have used more mileage out of the fact that Allison Williams (doing excellent work here, by the way) lost her sister: the movie focuses on the way that her niece grieves the loss of a mother, but Williams is never really given an opportunity to express what it is like to lose a sibling. Maybe it's on the cutting room floor, or maybe the writers weren't as interested in that: either way, it was a shame. But just a tiny one.

In Conclusion

I really liked this movie. It was a crackerjack way to start 2023, after what has felt like a really rotten series of years. I'm glad to see horror offer us something new, while capably remixing tried-and-true elements. It isn't a sequel, or a reboot, or a prequel, or a preboot, or anything else: it's new. And it deserves your money.

But maybe don't bring your children. Like the lady behind me did. It was low-key hilarious to hear her trying to explain murder to her two little girls, and tutting at the F-bomb: like, Girl, what movie did you think you were attending? I digress.

See M3GAN!