M3GAN

Chucky wouldn’t stand a chance against this girl. The little Terminatorette could shut him down with just a stare. But she’s more powerful than scary. And though M3GAN is classified as a horror movie, it’s not frightening. Nor does it build suspense or offer up a single scare. In terms of the dialogue and logic, however, it’s not ridiculous. And it’s technically well made. M3GAN is actually pretty, something like a criminally insane Barbie made by Tesla. Fans of robots will be pleased. (04/03/2023)

A harmless, well-made popcorn horror flick for young cinema-goers, enjoyable and designed to be a success. I had fun too, but higher ratings should go to films that try to do something; something slightly bolder, more daring, more surprising or less comfortable for the audience. I was kind of expecting at least a more exciting ending – the film raises the expectation for a bigger, off the rails carnage considering what the plot is leading to. But in the end it was nothing; I felt betrayed. (01/12/2023)

This year's first mainstream horror genre film is just your average high tech affair. Although M3gan has received good reviews overseas (Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB are both overwhelmingly praiseworthy), die-hard horror fans are certainly not overflowing with enthusiasm. M3gan is a modern variation on Chucky for Gen Z, so to speak, highlighting the dangers of modern technology and how treacherous it can be. Unfortunately the film is hurt by the PG-13 rating and it's all too family friendly and safe. It rambles on for over an hour and getting to know the characters isn't much fun, in short it's more of a drama about a little girl's relationship with a doll that classically starts to turn into a killer monster. It's a shame the premise didn't live up to its potential, it aimed for big things, butthe few murders probably wouldn't have been much even with an R-rating (we might have got 2-3 small gore scenes), which, compared to the new Evil Dead  is a mockery. The atmosphere doesn't work very well and the scares aren't there either, so it plays more on a disturbing note, but I wasn't too impressed with that either. Some even claim it's a comedy, but you must have a very obscure sense of humour. The finale at least saved it from being average for me. The battle in the house is very well filmed. M3GAN is properly creepy there for the first time in the film (her moves are admittedly copied from demons in traditional exorcism genre movies, but it looks even cooler in a robotic way) and her final appearance is also decent, It’s not worth going to the cinema, it's watchable, but the movie would be more fitting on VOD. 55% (01/14/2023)

Horror for the TikTok generation. It mostly blew me away at the end because it's basically a rip-off of Aliens, where instead of a space monster there's a futuristic doll, the adult heroine learns to be a mother, and the little girl is the ultimate badass. It’s also a critique of the marketing frenzy that drives technology against humanity using emotional coercion. I had fun, but I find it ironic that it's the kind of consumerist and faddish product taking advantage of modern trends that it actually warns against (01/13/2023)

This mundane copy of the recent remake of Child’s Play is unimaginative, lacks suspense and isn’t scary. I was startled once when a dog barked at an unexpected moment. The actors are fine and there are some OK emotional moments here and there, but M3GAN is otherwise a rather silly horror B-movie on the now classic theme of spreading irrational fear of modern technologies among people who have no idea how artificial intelligence actually works. I don’t understand the enthusiastic response abroad. (01/12/2023)