January used to be a dumping ground for terrible horror movies, but M3GAN seems to be breaking that curse.
For many years of my life, I avoided horror films, there's still certain ones I won't touch, but now I'm coming around to the genre. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm too good for it, I'm just a little scaredy-cat.
However, I am an absolute sucker for a fun, goofy, camp horror movie like M3GAN.
The movie begins with a hilarious ad for the fictional PurrPetual Petz, "finally a pet that outlives you!" Unfortunately it's an obsession with this toy which leads to an accident where young Cady loses both of her parents and is forced to live with her aunt Gemma.
Within the first three minutes of the film we've both laughed and cried. Impressive feat.
Not used to having kids around the house, Gemma, who works at a toy factory, brings home M3GAN, a highly advanced doll to help with Cady.
M3GAN acts as a best friend for Cady, designed to protect her at all costs. You can probably see where this is going. As with most films that revolve around artificial intelligence, things go awry when the limits of "at all costs" are tested.
The character of M3GAN is brought to life through a variety of practical and computer generated effects. She is played by young New Zealand actress Amie Donald, but it's been kept under wraps exactly where Amie ends and M3GAN begins.
That's not the only Kiwi connection, director Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) helmed the film which was partially shot in Auckland just before the lockdown at the end of 2021.
The film is definitely more fun than scary, there are moments of tension and horror but there's never an excess of gore and a fun moment to lift the mood is never far away.
M3GAN feels destined to be a horror icon for decades to come. It's been a while since we've had the likes of Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger which can be milked for years in films with diminishing returns but part of me really hopes M3GAN can be that for a new generation.
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