“M3GAN” will earn more than “Avatar” if there is any justice in this world

have a movie A genre that I tend to find moderately funny, but can’t respect in good conscience: movie meme. You know what I’m talking about. snakes on the plane. Christmas movie Angry Cat starring Aubrey Plaza. upcoming cocaine bear. These are frankly crazy films that exist for people to watch them, at least semi-ironically, and write about them on the Internet. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a new T-shirt bought on Instagram. M3GAN applies to this type of movie as well – the trailer appears to be purpose-built to go viral on Twitter – but it’s so well done that it transcends its vulgar category and becomes something more.

Plot M3GAN is a mix of evil AI and evil puppet narratives. It can be described with equal accuracy as “stupid From the car” or “clarified Children’s games“. A brilliant, neurotic robotic named Gemma (the sublime Allison Williams) finds herself the guardian of her niece, the recently orphaned and slightly creepy Cady (Violet McGraw). Ill-prepared to raise a grieving child (and desperate to sell her boss a complicated, absurdly expensive Android toy she’s been secretly working on), Gemma hastily programs the toy (M3GAN or Model 3 Generative Android) as a protective companion. for Cady. However, she forgets a few key lines of code… such as parental controls and instructions not to kill. So when M3GAN sees threats to Cady, she eliminates them. As Gemma realizes the lethal nature of her creation, M3GAN also begins to see her creator as a threat. I won’t spoil the ending, but you can probably guess about 80 percent of what is happening.

So what does M3GAN special? Tone. It’s exuberant. Like a horror movie M3GAN definitely not intimidating. But as a comedy, it’s deadly. M3GAN dances, sings, plays ballads on the piano. She’s walking around looking like a parody of Renesmee from Twilight series and these creepy shining twins. She’s the most charismatic horror comedy villain since smart gremlin in Gremlins 2. (And How Gremlins 2, M3GAN manages to wink and be self-aware without becoming annoyed—a feat more difficult than it looks.) People on my screening were laughing from the opening scene to the over-the-top ending. It was, seriously, a dizzying trip to the movies.

Now, regarding my inflammatory title: M3GAN This is the first movie I’ve seen in theaters this year. A few weeks ago I saw Avatar: Path of Water (in three dimensions, as intended by director James Cameron). A genre film with a modest budget and a competent but obscure director will find it difficult to compete with the extravagant sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time, directed by a contemporary master. But, on merit, it should be so.

Avatar: Path of Water looks fabulous. His special effects are a real miracle and an achievement. But its storyline is somehow even more insipid than the overheated original. fern ravine romance. At a time when any film that isn’t part of a superhero franchise is being judged on the curve for even trying to be anything other than soulless money-pumping, a critical response to Avatar: Path of Water I suspect that it was significantly warmer here than in a less anemic environment. Cameron is capable of creating great works of art, but water path it’s not art at all. On the contrary, this belated return to Pandora is beautiful. spectacle. Visually dazzling and narratively empty, it’s a great pleasure to go see it in a crowded theater and then never think about it again. Thus, this is a complete flashing of the first Avatarwhich, in the years following its release, developed amazingly strong reputation due to lack of reputation.

M3GAN also a great show. His storyline is almost as ridiculous as Avatar, and the two films are almost equally entertaining to watch on the big screen, ideally surrounded by hooting and screaming audiences. But that’s where M3GAN has the advantage that its appeal depends on its foamy feel rather than visual effects. (Also, it’s much faster.) Avatar: Path of Water without the right pair of 3D glasses, its charm will diminish; M3GAN can play on the most dilapidated screen and retain its goofy charm. This quality will M3GAN a longer shelf life – it seems destined to take its place in the sleepover movie canon – but that doesn’t diminish the appeal of watching it in a communal setting. The best meme movie deserves to be a shared experience.