Movie Breakdown: M3GAN

Pre-Screening Stance:

Let’s be real, just about everyone has wanted to see M3GAN from the very first moment the titular character was shown crazily dancing in the trailer.

Post-Screening Ramble:

I had such a great time with M3GAN. The plot for it isn’t exactly complex – a young girl, Cady (Violet McGraw), loses her parents in a car accident and is then sent to live with her Aunt Gemma (Allison Williams). Now, you’d think – even with the totally tragic loss of her mother and father – that going to live with a toy maker would be a nice turn of events, but nope, her auntie is a rather unattached person who has no idea how to live with or even look after a child. Gemma cares (or mostly wants to) though, so in an attempt to help out Cady (and conveniently save her own job), she crafts M3gan, a child-sized robo doll with a snazzy AI brain. It doesn’t really go as planned.

If you’re wanting something full-on campy, like a Chucky entry or whatnot, M3GAN really isn’t that sort of movie. It’s also not particularly scary or gory. Thankfully though, it is a good time. The tone is just right, as it expertly rides the line between being silly and serious, and M3gan herself is presented in a way where she’s less of a villain (until she is) and more of an anti-hero, which means you can’t help but root for her as she commits a slew of “wrong” acts in an effort to protect Cady. I suppose this isn’t exactly what the trailer sells – an unhinged, killer, dancing robot – but at least on my end, it was pleasantly surprisingly to find that the movie had a lot more to offer than just meme-worthy gifs.

One Last Thought:

A favorite detail of mine in M3GAN is how often the twisted little robot’s life-like appearance puts off and/or confuses people. In what is an otherwise entirely unrealistic movie, that occasional bit has a genuine, grounded feel to it. Also, it usually generates a laugh.