M3GAN Review!

M3GAN has an intriguing premise, lapses into violent implausibilities, and then returns to a A.I. horror movie with a twist! The director, Gerald Johnstone, known for the horror comedy, Housebound (2014). James Wan shares co-story with Akela Cooper. The screenplay is by Cooper and she was also shares story and screenwriter credit for Malignant (2021) which was directed by Wan. I think the scary doll goes all the way back to Talky Tina in the Twilight Zone episode, “The Doll” (1963). There is also the doll, Annabelle, in The Conjuring (2013). This all leads to Chucky from his own franchise starting with Child’s Play (1988). 

I would also add the TZ episode, “I Sing The Body Electric” (1962) that became Ray Bradbury’s 1969 short story. So this film is combination of the two Twilight Zone eps with a dash of Baymax from Big Hero 6 (2014) and the Terminator! We are immediately introduced to PurRpetual Petz as a commercial, this was kinda clever, kinda confusing since theaters like to show commercials before films. The toy looks like a Furby and has the interaction of a Tomodachi. A family is driving on a snowy, mountain road with a young girl, Cady (Violet McGraw) using an ipad to play with her PurPetual Petz. McGraw played Young Nell in the horror mini-series, The Haunting of Hell House. An incredible performance for McGraw who plays a withdrawn child to playful kid. 

Her mother says that she is using too much screen time. One of the movie’s themes is the addiction to technology. The car starts to slide in the road, the mother tells her husband to slow down, with the snow drift covering the windshield. They have stopped in the middle of the road and then we see truck lights closing in! This movie deals with accidents, trauma, and children in danger so it may be touchy for some audience members, but the scares are mild with the PG-13 rating. We move then to the headquarters of the toy company, Funki, with a man carrying a briefcase. I love the name of this business, playing on Funko, with the “funky” word. 

At a lab is Gemma played by Alison Williams. The actress was brilliant as Rose Armitage in Get Out (2017) and here she is also executive producer. Gemma is dedicated to her work as an innovative robotics engineer, but is content to live alone. The briefcase is delivered by one of the robotics team, Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez), the comedian and actor played Estafan Gloria in the comedy Will & Grace. The other assistant is Tess (Jen Van Epps), the actress starred in an episode of Cowboy Bebop. Tess is the voice of reason. Gemma sees that he has the final piece, the rubbery face of a girl. 

It is attached by Cole so that we see that this is M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android). The voice of M3GAN is Jenna Davis, who also played Meg in the sci fi series, Maggie (2022). Amie Donald gives the on-set performance. Donald was in a 2021 episode of the Sweet Tooth sci fi show. Gemma holds up a pen for M3GAN to track, this is similar to RoboCop (1987). A malfunction happens so M3GAN’s face droops and she looks demented. They are interrupted by the company’s CEO, David Lin, played by Ronny Chieng. The comedian and actor is currently in the bio-comedy, Young Rock. His assistant, Kurt, is played byStephane Garneau-Monten who was also in an episode of Sweet Tooth. 

David is the driven executive who shows a commerical of the latest toy, Furzees, a knock-off, but cheaper. Gemma wants to shows him the prototype and asks her to say hello. M3GAN’s voice distorts and then she explodes! David wants the new PurRpetual Pet design, then Gemma gets a call. At the Oregon Emergency Center, we see Cady in a neck brace. Gemma is given custody of her niece. She drives her over the St. Johns Bridge, I mistook it for the Golden Gate, to her house in the suburbs. Gemma gets out and a dog, Dewey, suddenly leaps at the car window! She gets angry at her neighbor, Celia (Lori Dungey), also for spraying chemicals. Dungey was also in an episode of Cowboy Bebop. 

Gemma enters her house with Cady and is greeted by Elsie, a voice assistant like Alexa or Siri. It has a spherical blue eye like the red one of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Cady’s interest is with the Planet Robot toy based on Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet (1956) in its original box. Gemma tells her that it is not a toy, it’s a “collectible.” She also reminds Cady to put a drink on a coaster in her new bedroom. Cady wants to hear a story like her mother read to her, but Gemma has to download the app!  She later sees the family’s photo in the next room and then hears crying, but she leaves Cady on her own. 

The next day, there is a knock at the door, it is the therapist, Lydia (Amy Underwood). The actress starred as Joy in the film, Ladies in Black (2018). She is there to check on the interaction between Cady and Gemma. Lydia wonders if there are any toys and Gemma rolls one of her collectibles to Cady. Gemma goes with Lydia who tells her that they need to make arrangements. Gemma has her work project overdue. She gives Cady her iPad to keep herself occupied while she works in the other room. Gemma is working on the new and improved PurPetual Petz when Cady enters. Cady notices something in the corner which Gemma tells her is a robot, Bruce, she built in college. 

It looks like a simple, industrial robot which Gemma controls with haptic gloves giving her niece a high five. This is the most connection they have had together. Cady excitedly says, “If I had a toy like Bruce I don’t think I would ever need another toy again.”  This of course drives Gemma to recreate M3GAN in her own work room. At Funki headquarters, David walks in to see a play room, Observation Room 1. Gemma is there and introduces Cady to M3GAN, she is told to press M3GAN’s wrist which imprints her as the primary user. M3GAN introduces herself to Cady. She takes Cady over to a drawing table and begins sketching something. 

It is a blank page, but M3GAN spills a glass holding brushes over the page, and it reveals a drawing of Cady! David is stunned and wants to start building the androids. Gemma goes over her pitch detailing the specs of M3GAN; a titanium core made of composite ceramics with an “A17 bionic fusion core.” This made me think of Baymax. Tess is worried about a toy replacing parents and that there was no “input protocol.” I have a suspicion that this “input protocol” has to do with Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the first is the most important, “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.” Next, we see Cady playing with a toy bow outside as M3GAN watches from her window. 

Cady looses an arrow with a sucker head at her companion. Then, she asks M3GAN to find her lost arrow. It is in the hole at the bottom of the fence. M3GAN goes to pick it up, but the dog viciously attacks her! The robot girl is thrashed, but doesn’t react. This is until Cady tries to help. It is a slow build to more violence, which gets a little silly, but I wouldn't call it campy. This is the Artificial Intelligence gone wrong like in the movie, Westworld (1973). She has the relentlessness of a Terminator and the A.I. learning of Ava in Ex Machina (2014). Gemma, her creator, is at a loss to stop her creation Frankenstein-style. M3GAN has a compelling sci fi premise, strong themes, and a memorable female cast with Violet McGraw, Alison Williams, and M3GAN! Remember, “M3GAN, turn off!” 

Four PurRpetual Petz out of Five! 

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