Dir. Gerard Johnstone | Now Streaming On: Prime | Rating: 2/5

This review is one of many firsts for 2023 – the first review of a new release and the first review (of many) that will inevitably polarize and piss off a bunch of people.

M3GAN is a blind slap on the wrist for the generation of iPad children and early tech adopters. It tries to illuminate the darkness of artificial intelligence and the risk science takes by trying to play God. But where M3GAN falters the most is by not saying anything that hasn’t already been said, and said more effectively at that. I walked out of the theater considering how films like I, Robot (2004) and even Splice (2009) deliver the exact messaging with more hard hitting horror elements and social commentary.

This film follows in the footsteps of Wan’s 2021 project Malignant by seeking to break the genre constraints of horror. Though this deserves points for creativity, it tonally doesn’t stick its landing. M3GAN tries to be self aware in its nonsense – there are parts that are supposed to be funny, but they juxtapose so strangely with the serious topics of trauma and failures of parenthood. It creates a bizarre and disjointed viewing experience. I think this would’ve been a much stronger project if they leaned full force into the social satire of it all and took this story from a dark comedy approach.

The true horror elements of this are strong in their own right – M3GAN running on all fours and the whole woods scene is great. But there isn’t enough horror, even for a PG-13 release. Not only does this lack any meaningful social commentary, it lacks any sustained scare or suspense to qualify this as a strong horror release.

Long gone are the days when we could expect any consistency from something with James Wan’s name on it. I even saw someone on TikTok call Blumhouse “the godfather of horror,” am I officially that old? What world are we living in right now? As a long-winded cash grab, M3GAN is not worth the going rate of a movie ticket in 2023.

Know Before You Watch: Features death, blood, flashing lights, animal death.