M3GAN * * * *

The idea of creating a humanoid that turns bad is not exactly new.  I think Frankenstein was the first one.  But it's a theme we are happy to use over and over, from robots that want to keep living after being decommissioned, humanoids that develop emotions, simulants and bad dolls.  M3GAN is another one, but it's good.  It handles the subject very well and takes on a few more contemporary themes.

The story is of a recently orphaned child, Cady, who has to go live with her work-a-holic Aunt Gemma.  Auntie is actually an okay person but she is struggling as kids are not really her thing, even though she works as the chief developer at a toy company. 

Meet the Model 3 Generative Android .
M3GAN to you.

Gemma is working on her pet project - a doll that looks, talks, and behaves like a six year old girl.  M3GAN won't just be a smart doll it will be a playmate.  

She introduces the prototype M3GAN to her niece Cady who instantly becomes attached to her.  Cady can ask M3GAN any question and it will come up with the answer because she is always on line.  All its answers are well informed: it never loses patience, never tires and is never distracted.  Ultimately M3GAN could be a better parent, teacher, counsellor, than any adult.  And lets face it most kids would rather advice from their peers than some adult.

Gemma has done a good job in building M3GAN.  Although convincingly human she is physically strong.  She deals with threats candidly and efficiently, as the dog next door and later some boy bully learn when they upset her owner Cady. 

It's definitely in the horror genre, but this is an intelligent drama that unfolds unhurriedly.  It's a slow boil as we also witness the pressure that Gemma  is under with her psychopathic boss and how M3GAN is getting smarter by the minute as she mentally and cybernetically develops, researches - and hacks her way into the data of the toy company that built her.

The real mayhem unfolds in the last twenty minutes when the company are keen to launch her.  The day is set, the stage is set, and M3GAN has re-set herself with her own chaotic idea of how her launch should go. 

She's a bad doll with some crazy moves and she knows how to turn anything into a lethal weapon (her demonic dance moves have gone viral on the internet apparently), but you can't help but feel for her a bit. 

Apparently it cost about 12 mill to make and grossed more than most of the blockbusters in its first month. It deserves to.  It's a lot better than most of them.