Wow, not expecting that. M3GAN exemplifies Blumhouse’s pure, stripped-down joy of movies in all the best ways. The Blumhouse boys have certainly delivered some clunkers, which is inevitable when you plunge ahead, see what sticks, and ask questions later. But at least you know they’re trying for something purely fun. When it clicks, good things happen: Get Out, The Visit, Happy Death Day, and The Gift. That Blumhouse gleeful edge is embedded even in sub-stellar releases such as Night Swim.
M3GAN features no big stars, but was well marketed, and benefited from free social media promotion. That iconic M3GAN dance was a TikTok viral sensation; the relatively low budget of $12 million yielded $181 million in global box office. I’ll take this opportunity to take a dig a John Gruber of Daring Fireball, one of my favorite tech news sites. M3GAN holds a 93% Tomatometer rating. Now I couldn’t agree more that Rotten Tomatoes is broken, but not here. Gruber (and apparently his entire family) is way off on this one, calling it a “shitty movie.” What can you expect from a devout Yankees fan — that compass got bent big time.
When I first saw a promo for M3GAN, I legitimately thought it was a sequel to one of those Bride of Chucky movies. Boy was I wrong. M3GAN was one of the most well-crafted, pure fun and thrilling entertainments I’ve seen in years. Looking back at my ratings, M3GAN was the best film in theaters since 2015 save 1917.
I question now how I justify such a high rating for M3GAN. It kept turning in fun and exciting ways. Like Being John Malkovich, it kept re-inventing itself. That review tag-line from Wild Tales applies here: a tinderbox of delights. And as a bonus, the use of music was both sublime and hilarious. Such a romp! 9/10
Comparison Notes: Splice, Ex Machina, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The Truman Show, 2001: A Space Odyssey (HAL, open the pod bay doors), The Terminator, Natural Born Killers, The (aforementioned) Gift
movies remark 