There is one genre of film that I tend to find mildly entertaining but fail in good conscience to respect: i movie-meme. You understand what I mean: Snakes on a Plane; the Grumpy Cat Christmas Movie with Aubrey Plaza; the upcoming CocainOrso. These are deliberately bizarre films made only to be watched in a semi-ironic way and to be talked about online. Despite also M3gan you fall into this category – the trailer seems made to go viral on Twitter – it’s so well done that it manages to transcend the kitsch vein to become something bigger.
More comedy than horror
The plot of M3gan combine stories about artificial intelligences villains and killer dolls. Gemma, a brilliant and neurotic robotics expert played by the sublime Allison Williams, she finds herself the guardian of Cady (Violet McGraw), a slightly creepy niece recently orphaned. Since she is unable to look after a little girl who has just lost her parents (but also to convince her boss of the potential of a sophisticated and very expensive toy android on which she had been working in secret), Gemma hastily programs the robot (M3gan precisely , which stands for Model 3 Generative Android) so that it can keep Cady company and protect it. However, the woman forgets to include some very important lines of code in her creation, such as parental control and instructions not to kill. Thus, whenever M3gan perceives the presence of a threat against Cady, her reaction is to eliminate it. As Gemma realizes the homicidal nature of her creation, M3gan begins to see her creator as an enemy as well. I won’t spoil the ending, but in all likelihood you can guess at least 80 percent of what happens in the film.
So what is it that makes it special M3gan? The answer is to be found in exuberant tone of the film. If as horror it does far too little pure, as a comedy, however, the film is deadly. M3gan dances, sings and plays the piano. He moves with ease and looks like an amalgamation of Renesmee from the franchise’s Twilight and the disturbing twins of Shining. He is the most charismatic villain seen in a horror comedy since the Clever gremlin Of Gremlins 2 (and how Gremlins 2also M3gan manages to be winking and knowing without becoming irritating, a more difficult feat than it seems). People at the screening I attended laughed from the opening scene to the over the top ending. She really was a mind-boggling cinematic experience.
Not just special effects
M3gan It’s the first movie I’ve seen in the cinema this year. A few weeks ago I went to see Avatar: The Way of Water (in 3D, which is how director James Cameron wants it to be seen). A production with a modest budget and a competent but not particularly famous director will be difficult to compete with the very expensive sequel of the highest-grossing film in history, directed by a master of modern cinema. But, looking only at the merits, it would be right for it to happen.
Avatars 2 it’s fabulous. Its special effects are a feast for the eyes and a remarkable achievement. But the film’s plot is somehow even more insipid than the original. At a time when any movie that isn’t part of a superhero franchise is being given more leniency just for at least attempting to be a work that isn’t just a moneymaker, I suspect the critical response to Avatar: The Way of Water turned out to be much more benevolent than it would have been in a less anemic context. Cameron is capable of create great artbut The water way it does not represent a work of art at all. By contrast, this belated return to Pandora is just a great one show. Visually dazzling but narratively smoky, it’s a hilarious movie to watch in a crowded theater and never think about again. In this sense, it closely follows in the footsteps of the first Avatars.
Also M3gan it’s a great show. Its storyline is almost as ridiculous as that of Avatars and the two films provide an almost equivalent level of enjoyment when viewed on a big screen, ideally surrounded by a roaring, roaring audience. But that’s where M3gan proves you have an edge on Avatars 2: the film’s appeal rests on its frivolity rather than its visual effects (and has a much more reasonable duration). To watch Avatar: The Way of Water without the right pair of 3D glasses dampens the appeal of the film while M3gan it can be projected onto even the most dilapidated screen while retaining its ridiculous appeal. This feature will ensure the film – which seems destined to carve out a place in the canon of sleepover films – a greater longevity, without however diminishing the charm of a common vision. The movie meme par excellence deserves to become a shared experience.
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