By Maalik Hawkins
Trinity Times Movie Reviewer
The genre of killer doll films like “Child’s Play” and “Annabelle” have become horror movie fan favorites with a formula designed to tickle your funny bone and force you to jump out of your seat in terror.
The new Blumhouse produced sci-fi comedy “M3GAN,” hits above the expectations of the previews and marketing for the horror flick and it manages to surprise the audience with a twist on the killer doll genre films.
“M3GAN” was penned by “Saw” film franchise writer James Wan, who tells the story of Gemma, played by Allison Williams, who works as an engineer for a toy company looking for its next big product. She also recently takes custody of her orphaned niece Cady, played by Violet McGraw.
Gemma creates a robotic doll called M3GAN, an artificial intelligence marvel of a lifelike figurine, that can be a companion to children while meeting their basic needs.
The problems begin when M3GAN starts to get overprotective of Cady and becomes a danger to all involved.
The moral of this story is for parents to truly parent their children instead of allowing technology to do the childrearing for them.
The film was originally given an R rating for release, but following the viral marketing for the film, Blumhouse chose to give the movie edits and reshoots to garner a PG-13 rating in hopes of bringing in more money with a larger audience, which proved to be successful in box office sales.
This sanitized revision is certain to create an issue for horror film enthusiasts like me.
“M3GAN” was originally advertised to bring a lot of gore and terror, but after the obvious reshoots, you can see where a lot of scenes were going to be thrilling but settled on a milder act.
Still, the story is full of laughs and the dialogue is hilarious.
The wider general audience is sure to enjoy the narrative, special effects and great laughs, but for those expecting a true slasher film, well, that just isn’t this one.
The producers of “M3GAN” may have created a new icon in the sci-fi genre with the film tripling its box office sales after the first week in the theatre.
Many of us horror film junkies though look forward to an unsterilized sequel, scheduled for 2025, and an unrated cut of this film.
Rankings:
Traditional Moviegoers – 8.5/10
Critics – 9.5/10
Cinephiles – 8/10
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Maalik Hawkins is a graduate student at Trinity Washington University.