M3gan is another example of a movie that was originally meant to be rated R, absolutely should be rated R, but is toned down to PG-13 so they can sell more tickets. Instead of focusing on making something awesome for real movie fans, something people will talk about for years, they focus on the casuals and teens (there were even a few children at my viewing). I continue to ask, when are studios going to stop being cowards and have the courage to go all out?

Unfortunately that's far from the only problem with M3gan. My biggest complaint is it feels like such a tease. Part of the reason is the aforementioned limitations which doesn't allow you to be creative with or even show the kills. The other reason is that this movie takes FOREVER to get going. And every time I think, okay here we go, it steps back and makes me wait longer. It's not a long movie, and I don't have a short attention span. I just wanted it to go crazy and it never really did.

Other than that, this is just a mediocre movie. I love a good blend of horror and comedy, but the comedy barely made me laugh, and the horror is barely that. With the exception of a solid performance by the main child, I found the rest of the acting to be serviceable at best.

If you're like me and feel like this barely scratched an itch, watch Malignant. Oh, it scratches. (1 viewing, opening Thursday 1/5/2023)

For the first movie theater experience I had in 2023, M3gan was just not it, this is barely a horror film, and more so a comedy/parody, in the same vein as the 2019 Child's Play remake, take an actually good idea and slap a PG-13 rating on it, you've got M3gan.

I don't think I could care about the characters in this movie any less, everyone in this film is either entirely unlikeable or completely incompetent, this is a horror movie, no one wanted to see a doll sing, the stakes weren't there, the shock value was detrimental to the scariness factor, and to top it all off we've got singing dolls and absolutely no blood.

M3gan gets a D+

When her parents die, Cady is taken in by her Aunt, to help her come to terms with things, she's given M3GAN, an AI doll, that's very protective.

First off, I felt very old in the cinema, aged 40, where most of the viewers seemed to be teenagers, and I think they're perhaps the target audience.

Definitely not without appeal, it's an interesting, if unoriginal plot, Child's play vibes, and there are a few jumps here and there. M3GAN does have some intriguing moments, but sadly never flips into horror mode, which I felt the trailers pointed to.

The major plus, the visuals, it looks very good indeed, it's nicely shot and well produced, M3GAN's realisation is great, the film peaks towards the end, and the scenes in the forest in particular look very good, and offer the film's most unsettling moments.

On the debit side, it's hard to believe in the actions of some of the characters, a few times, I sat there wanting to shout out 'REALLY,' is that actually what they're going to do, but worse, the film was a little too slow in parts.

I expected it to be somewhat gruesome, it really wasn't, when I came home from the cinema, I read that it had been cut to fit with a younger audience, I can see that.

6/10.