M3GAN 2.0

Director: Gerard Johnstone
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Aimee Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari, Jemaine Clement, Timm Sharp
Running Time: 120 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)   

When the smart, wickedly funny horror satire M3GAN was released in 2022, the film was already a bona fide hit before a single person actually saw it. Much of this had to do with some clever viral marketing that featured the title android awkwardly dancing as she slaughtered unsuspecting victims. With her vacant eyes, creepily cherubic facial expressions, Jenna Davis's incredible voice work and Aimee Donald's physicality, she came across as a bizarre hybrid of Chucky and an American Girl doll. But director Gerard Johnstone still had to make it all work, which he did, resulting in a huge creative and commercial success for Blumhouse.

If the original concept's appeal rested on simplicity and how relatable the robot seemed in an era where technology parents kids, Johnstone knew not to take things too seriously, preparing us for even crazier, more hilarious hijinx in M3GAN 2.0. But rather than keeping the focus narrow, this aims higher, with a plot entirely focused on cyber-terrorism and the government's regulation of AI. And in doing that he delivers a sequel that bares little resemblance to its predecessor, perplexing audiences in the process. Not content to play it safe and merely repeat story beats from the original, he instead resurrects the iconic doll for purposes other than causing additional death and destruction. 

Two years after M3GAN's rampage, Gemma (Allison Williams) is now an author advocating for the regulation of AI and testing a new robotic exoskeleton with cybersecurity expert Christian (Aristotle Athari) and former team members Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Tess (Jen Van Epps). Her work catches the interest of greedy, eccentric tech billionaire Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement, parodying Elon Musk), who Gemma refuses a lucrative offer to work for on moral grounds.  

Operating out of her smart home basement, Gemma has little time to spend with now 12-year-old niece Cady (Violet McGraw), who's handled the trauma of M3GAN's violent betrayal by taking up martial arts and computer science. But everything changes when a secret branch of the Pentagon headed by U.S. Army Colonel Sattler (Timm Sharp) develops AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), a high functioning android copied from M3GAN's original design. After unexpectedly escaping, the newly self-aware machine goes on a killing spree and only one robot can stop her. With a backup of M3GAN's mind stored, Gemma must now decide whether an upgraded version can be trusted to thwart an imminent AI takeover. 

This second chapter shouldn't be duplicating the first film's blueprint since these characters are in an entirely different headspace two years later. Now, Cady's older and Gemma's attempts to warn the public of technology's dangers has fallen on deaf ears, causing a fracture in their relationship. And with few guardrails regulating the abuse of AI, the M3GAN disaster has caused government agencies to realize the potential of androids as controlled weapons, pouring gasoline on a capitalistic climate clamoring for its use. 

Enter AMELIA, a ruthless cyborg assassin that not only makes M3GAN look like a Cabbage Patch Kid, but plows through its victims in an effort to reach the secluded Motherboard, which grants access to any and all technology. It can all really be traced back to Gemma's inability to grasp the dangerous magnitude of her initial creation until it was too late, unintentionally giving those in more powerful positions the green light to abuse it. And while her fear and anxiety over rebuilding M3GAN is justified, she also knows the robot's actions weren't the result of free will, but her own programming mistakes.

After a big buildup, M3GAN returns taller, stronger and more dangerous than before. Thankfully though, she still possesses the same comedic timing, dry humor and killer dance moves. One of her best scenes involves a heart-to-heart with Cady, during which she expresses what appears to be genuine remorse and regret for her previous actions. Now with the forgiveness and trust of her best friend, she'll have the opportunity to step up and help. And not just because she's programmed to.   

An inevitable consequence of such a busy plot is that Williams lacks the big acting moments she had in the first film where she was carrying a story that revolved around about parental responsibility and guilt. There's still a bit of that here, but it's mainly action oriented as Gemma reluctantly leads the other characters in a quest to prevent impending doom. Violet McGraw gives this sequel its soul as a maturing Cady struggles to process her conflicted feelings toward M3GAN while Ukranian actress (and Elizabeth Olsen lookalike) Sakhno plays the Terminator-like AMELIA to chilling, wide eyed perfection. 

The film's final act set within a secret guarded facility may be an ambitious mess full of twists and turns, but it's also deliriously entertaining, especially as we approach the climactic showdown between M3GAN and AMELIA. And though there's still plenty of humor and mayhem in this installment, it's also far larger in scope, more closely echoing sci-fi actioners like TRON: Legacy or Blade Runner 2049 than Child's Play. 

Viewed through this prism, it's not surprising audiences haven't respond favorably to such a jarring departure from the original. But aside from an admittedly convoluted plot and overlong run time, Johnstone skillfully navigates familiar material that's been beaten into the ground by similarly themed thrillers of late. While it may have suffered a quick and undeserved box office death, there's reason to hope this doesn't spell the end of M3GAN, who proves she still has more than a few lives left. 

M3GAN

Director: Gerard Johnstone
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Stephane Garneau-Monten, Lori Dungey
Running Time: 102 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)   

Over-the-top, creepy and hilarious, M3GAN doesn't hold back in expressing the dangers of having technology parent your kids. Of course, whenever we see a talking, lifelike doll in a horror movie our minds turn to Child's Play, and even if the comparison is understandable, there are attributes that cleverly differentiate this title character. Rather than relying on a supernatural origin story, the script focuses on  making a larger point, but not at the expense of taking itself too seriously or forgoing the fun. Director Gerard Johnstone knows he's making a satire and embraces it, while also realizing that details help. By showing us how this toy comes about, its manufacturing process and planned marketing tactics, the inevitable payoff carries more weight. It's more deliberate and restrained than you'd expect, eventually leading to what everyone came for.

Given its PG-13 rating, there isn't a lot to excite gore fans, but that's unnecessary when most of our satisfaction derives from watching the cracks in M3GAN's artificial intelligence start to show. It helps that the animatronic doll design, with its dead eyes, preppy attire and sarcastic jabs has a unique, bewildering presence. Everything about her is almost aggressively unnatural to the point of parody, yet remarkably realistic at the same time. You'd also see how kids would immediately gravitate toward it, impacting their social and emotional growth. This combined with an already traumatized child's need for companionship spells trouble, leading to an unapologetically absurd experience that also contains some real ideas.

When a young girl named Cady (Violet McGraw) is involved in a car accident that kills her parents, her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams), a roboticist at Seattle's Funki toy company, is contacted to take legal custody. A workaholic with little time to look after a child, Gemma's been using the company's resources to secretly develop M3GAN (Model 3 Generative Android), a human sized toy robot doll designed to provide companionship to children. After some initial flaws with the model prompts Gemma's irritable boss David (Ronny Chieng) to terminate the project, Cady's enthusiasm for the idea motivates her to complete the prototype. 

After a successful presentation where David's convinced of the toy's potential, M3GAN gets fast-tracked, while at home acting as both best friend and parent to Cady, providing the support Gemma couldn't muster. But when the doll starts operating independently and resorts to violence to protect Cady, Gemma suddenly has a more serious problem. In underestimating her niece's attachment to M3GAN, Gemma's plans to shelve it could carry disastrous consequences for a young girl who's already been dealt a tragic enough loss. 

The film does a great job showing just how unprepared Gemma is to be a mom, assuming the responsibility of taking her sister's child in, then doing little else. And when it comes to discussing the fatal accident that left Cady parentless, Gemma simply avoids it, throwing herself into work. It's impressive how Williams plays the role since on paper the character possesses traits that should make her irredeemable in viewers' eyes. But she allows us to take Gemma's actions in context, conveying fear and inexperience rather rather than maliciously harmful intent. If parenting really does require on the job training then there's still a long way to go. Though maybe not, since she's decided M3GAN can just do it instead. 

Young Violet McGraw is heartbreaking in a scene where an injured, emotionally fragile Cady becomes a pawn in an uncomfortable corporate demonstration to get the robot approved that crosses the line into child endangerment and exploitation. Cady emotionally unravels until M3GAN comes to the rescue, offering consolation as cheering executives see dollar signs. Unnerving to watch, the sequence best represents the unchecked ramifications from kids using advanced technology. Or more accurately, being used by it. As a result, we have the rare instance of a horror movie therapist who isn't a kook, but someone expressing legitimate psychiatric concerns about a child's welfare that deserve to be heard. 

Physically portrayed by child actress Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis, M3GAN's entire look and demeanor might be biggest reason this all works, especially when you start noticing changes in her personality, facial expressions and speech the more territorial she becomes. What's scariest is how it uses tech that already exists, but ramps it up, imagining how such an endeavor would unfold without forethought and under the worst circumstances. The script feeds into our cynicism, as we don't doubt a toy company would try something similar provided they could make it work and turn a profit. 

M3GAN's worsening behavior doesn't suddenly mean she has a mind or human feelings of its own. That's the easy way out. Instead, it's implied her breakdown could almost entirely be attributed to design flaws, with the darkly humorous implication being that she just needs some more testing and adjustments. We don't know whether her murderous rampage is a reprogramming issue, but that she only targets perceived threats to Cady suggests this isn't unbridled, misdirected madness. They're probably saving that for the sequels. But in effectively shifting between incisive social commentary and campier moments like M3GAN dancing or singing Sia's Titanium, there's reason to believe Chucky finally has some competition. 

Get Out

Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones, Lil Rel Howery, Betty Gabriel, Marcus Henderson, LaKeith Stanfield, Stephen Root
Running Time: 103 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

The scariest, most frighteningly realistic part of Jordan Peele's Get Out comes early, uncomfortably zeroing in on certain stupid things that certain white people say to black people in conversations to "prove" they're not racist. With every little action and comment you squirm since their obliviousness knows no bounds, terminally unaware of how ridiculous and ignorant they sound. Some of them are probably your friends, co-workers, teachers, neighbors or family members. And on occasion, I'm willing to bet those offenders have even included you and I. It would probably be insulting to suggest that the first sixty minutes of this horror thriller places anyone in the shoes of a black man being judged by the friends and family of his white girlfriend, but it does sure give us an eye-opening idea of what he'd have to put up with. That so much of this is subtle, even subliminal, to someone not consciously looking, is possibly its most unsettling aspect.

While making no mistake about the fact that Get Out is first and foremost a damning social commentary on racial tensions in America, what's been somewhat lost in the conversation is how slyly and expertly the comedian Peele (making his directorial debut) plays that hand. That is until he doesn't have to anymore, and audiences' worst fears, heavily hinted at from the very first frame, eventually come to fruition. Even with plenty of clues where this is going, it's still kind of jaw-dropping just how far Peele's willing to take this, to the point that you wonder how a project this socially, racially and politically charged even got the go-ahead.  You could quibble about where the plot eventually ends up, but good luck finding fault in how it arrives there, building genuine terror and suspense the entire way through. "Originality" isn't a word thrown around too often these days and while there are a few familiar genre elements at play, that definitely applies here.

When black photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) takes a trip with his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to meet her parents for the first time, she confides in him that she hasn't revealed to them his race and doubts it will be an issue. Described by Rose as open and accepting people, neurosurgeon Dean (Bradley Whitford) and psychiatrist Missy (Catherine Keener) warmly welcome Chris into their home and, almost right off the bat, something seems off. Whether it be Dean's overly enthusiastic boasting of having wanted Obama elected to a third term, his defensive explanation of why all the hired help is black, or Missy's insistence on hypnotizing Chris, it appears any concerns of not fitting in might be the least of his problems.

It only gets stranger from there, with an uncomfortable encounter with Rose's drunk, unstable brother, Jeremy (Caleb Landry Jones), offensive interrogations from party guests, and the black live-in housekeeper Georgina (a brilliantly creepy Betty Gabriel) and groundskeeper Walter (Marcus Henderson) behaving like zombies. Confiding his suspicions by phone to best friend and TSA agent, Rod (Lil Rel Howery), Chris realizes he's walked into something very bad, and while he wants to stay to support Rose, common sense tells him he can't get out soon enough, as what starts as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? very quickly devolves into Guess Who's Coming to Hell?

It may not be completely apparent until the final credits just how carefully the story is set up, playing on real-life anxieties and prejudices to draw the viewer in, as for much of its running length, the people and situations Chris encounters at the Armitage house are not only steeped heavily in realism, but painfully uncomfortable to watch. It's a key component that all these interactions, as disturbingly strange as they are, aren't so outright hostile that even he initially chalks it up to paranoia or nerves. It's easy to imagine an alternate director's cut of all these scenes that heavily emphasize that since Peele's ability to let audience's see through the protagonist's eyes at the true extent of this ignorant behavior is one of his script's greatest strengths. It's at work through every interaction at that house, whether it be a houseguest trying to chat Chris up about Tiger Woods or Rose's brother's obsession with his athletic abilities, even challenging him to a fight in one of many cringe-worthy dinner table moments.

Through much of this, Chris is about as good and patient a sport as anyone could be under some pretty degrading circumstances, and little known English actor Daniel Kaluuya skillfully walks a really tight rope, trying to remain calm in the midst of deplorable treatment masking itself as mildly disingenuous hospitality. It slowly gets to him, attempting to put on a solid front for Rose, played by Allison Williams as essentially the ideal girlfriend, even as the relationship eventually carries with it this unspoken racist implication that he'd be an idiot to screw it up, almost as if he should consider himself "'lucky" to land someone like her. In other words, don't rock the boat because you're the one being judged. All these racial overtones and undertones just keep building, boiling to the surface when the narrative bomb is dropped and a full-blown, insane explanation is given for what we've been seeing.

By the time Peele shows his cards and it's clear what's happening (the details of which land somewhere between A Clockwork Orange, The Stepford Wives and Soylent Green), a shift has to come, and how well he pulls off this transition is what will make or break the movie for many. Mostly, it's a seamless one due to the fact that we've been pulling so hard for this protagonist since he walked into an already awkward situation with the best of intentions, realizing it's now a fight for  survival. And once it is, you'll again be scratching your head at how this was even made to begin with, and yet somehow Peele pulls it off, juggling sci-fi, horror, comedy and socially conscious drama as deftly as possible considering the unexplored thematic terrain.

Given how many different things are attempted, this all remains fairly consistent right up until and including the final scene, which frightens in much the same way the rest of the film does, just in a more literal context. It cleverly reminds us, in even the most extreme situations, how justified the protagonist's fear is, and how stagnantly ingrained society's view of him is. By masquerading as a horror film, before fully evolving into one, it's able to explore and tackle timely issues that could otherwise play as as a preachy sermon under more traditional circumstances. Instead, we get something that pushes the envelope just far enough to leave a lasting imprint. How much of one will have to bare itself out in subsequent viewings, which is something Get Out proves more than worthy of.