The killer doll has been a long-standing tradition in horror spanning all the way back to the 1920s with ‘The Great Gabbo.’ As time has progressed, so too has the technology powering the dolls. If you look back at the 1989 film ‘Child’s Play,’ it was most notable for its effective use of mechanical puppetry to convey a true sense of personality. Times change and technology advances alongside, but the core concept remains the same. There’s just something inherently creepy about the lifeless eyes of a doll and the imaginary bonds that a child can make with an inanimate object that makes for good horror material.
At this point, the killer doll story is well-worn territory and I’m convinced there is very little anyone could do with it to truly surprise me. Therefore, it goes without saying that ‘M3GAN’ does little to bring anything fresh to this premise. That's not to say its without its charms though.
After losing her parents in a fatal car crash, young Cady (Violet McGaw) is sent to live with her Aunt Gemma (Alison Williams). Gemma also works as a roboticist for a high-tech toy company and is in charge of a highly advanced prototype code named M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android). A life size doll powered by a sophisticated A.I. learning computer designed specifically to assist in caretaking duties.
Being a workaholic, Gemma struggles with her newfound role as acting mother to her niece. Meanwhile, after a faulty test, management scraps the M3GAN project, leading Gemma to give the doll to her niece. The doll imprints on Cady and the two form an inseparable bond. But as we’ve seen countless times over, it doesn’t take long until the doll goes from being an innocent best friend to violently overprotective.
‘M3GAN’ is the direct product of what happens when you take David from ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and cross him with Chucky from ‘Child’s Play.’ It touches on all the usual satirical points you'd expect from this type of film. The themes of consumerism, over-dependence on technology and fears of Artificial Intelligence gone awry are all explored. Its satire is sharp enough, but still pretty well-worn. You can roadmap the entire movie just by looking at the trailer alone.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t long ago that we had the 2019 ‘Child’s Play’ remake, which also shared similar ideas thematically speaking. In fact, I would say ‘M3GAN’ plays almost as a carbon copy of said remake, only with a feminine twist. I was in the minority who liked the ‘Child’s Play’ remake so it was a little jarring to see something that feels like a beat-for-beat copy so soon after. ‘M3GAN’ also feels like it could have been right at home as an episode of ‘Black Mirror,’ which I guess is only fitting when you consider the 1950’s ‘Twilight Zone’ episode ‘Living Doll,’ which a number of these stories owe a massive debt of gratitude.
It’s never particularly scary. The filmmakers are entirely aware. Thankfully though, it restrains itself from becoming annoyingly meta. Much has already been said regarding the meme-inducing moment of M3GAN learning a Tik Tok type of dance that was heavily featured in the trailer alone. It is indeed one of the notable highlights of the film. One could argue that there is nothing scarier than a rogue AI learning anything from the void of intellect that is Tik Tok .
Having said all of this, I could have done with a tad more in the way of genuine horror. Unfortunately, it does suffer from the PG-13 rating in terms of gore. There are points throughout where it feels like it became the victim of re-shoots. I could have done with just a little more of the red stuff had they let it have more of an edge. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they used a physical animatronic doll for certain sequences. The filmmakers do well to utilize a nice blend of a real actor, CG and physical puppetry, which winds up looking more convincing than not. Also, Jenna Davis does exceptionally well at capturing the cold, clinical HAL 9000-like voice in feminine form.
It’s always nice to see a studio take a chance on a low to mid-budget horror movie. I’m certain that if ‘M3GAN’ does well at the box office then we will see sequels to follow. Hell, given it was produced by Universal studios, perhaps one day we'll see a 'Chucky vs. M3GAN' if popular enough.
‘M3GAN’ is not terrible by any means, rather it’s just an incredibly run-of-the-mill nuts and bolts horror film. It’s the very definition of a B-movie. The material is well-worn as it goes in every direction you expect it to go. But still, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t at least enjoyable. Just don’t expect fresh water to be drawn from the well.
- Daniel M
0 comments:
Post a Comment