File Review : "Godzilla Minus One"

It would have been hard for Toho Films to have messed this up. But they were committed to making more than just a monster movie, they wanted to make a movie that stood up against other genres. You do not have to be into Godzilla to enjoy this movie. Granted this is coming from someone who has been a fan of Godzilla for over 45 years. This has not made me like American films like the recent mess that is "King Kong vs Godzilla".  This movie stomps that film like Godzilla stomps through Tokyo. By taking it back to post-World War 2 they were wisely able to craft something with the feel of the period while making the most of the special effects of today, but not abandoning practical effects together. 

I feel like I need to watch a making-of-documentary to fully wrap my head around the movie. But that would be overthinking it. It is the best Godzilla design yet as it takes the massive scale of the creature and makes it make sense, even when it comes to his nuclear breath. Sure there are bursts of emotional exclamation that feel like they are from an anime, and there is also the lack of other big monsters for Godzilla to fight, which leaves him as the antagonist. The ex-kamikaze pilot who fills the role of the protagonist, feels like he could have stepped out of "Attack on Titan". But their humanity keeps you invested enough, though I might have asked for fewer humans and more Godzilla, but get why the story is told in the manner it is. 

I have not seen "Oppenheimer" but imagine this is a similar cautionary tale. It shows the costs of war, and Godzilla serves as the force of nature that is man's reckoning. No matter how cute the little kids whose lives hang in balance are, it is hard for me to root against Godzilla, the best I could do is similar to the destruction you see in Gaza, is a" you better get the fuck out of there and run to survive or your ass is about to get stepped on". I think the parallels drawn here are not intentional in that regard, but Godzilla represents the horrors that man brings on himself, this movie just personalized it. One of the best kaiju movies in recent memory even if it is just man vs the force of nature that is Godzilla. 

Film Review - "the Exorcist : Believer"

 The problem with horror movies is fans of the genre are so used to seeing low-budget movies with little to no studio involvement that anything with any money behind or studio push, becomes a case of the Emperor wearing no clothes. The plot holes or terrible scripts are ignored. When the truth is a well-written story does not require a big special effects budget.  This problem is compounded by the fact this is a distant sequel of sorts to The Exorcist. Which is one of the greatest horror movies of all time. In some ways, the fact this is an Exorcist movie for 2023 makes sense as to why the very concept of this movie does not work. If they had not tried to tie this into the Exorcist's legacy this might have worked better. 

It has been touted as a directed sequel to the 1973 film. But it's the 6th movie in this series, and a shits the bed in a manner that the main character actually does. If it is a direct sequel then we are talking about the first movie that involves Regan getting possessed by the demon Pazuzu. In demon lore, we know stories of a legion of demons possessing a man, and when cast out were sent into a herd of pigs that then leaped off a cliff. But that is not what is presented here. In fact, the laziness of the storytelling here only seems to make it known that two girls not one are possessed by the Devil, who seems to indicate that he is also the spirit that possessed Regan. 

If you are writing a movie about demonic possession knowing about the hierarchy of demons might help. If you think this is nitpicking then you are a fucking idiot and I do not care about your opinion, as it has all the substance of a fair, but let's continue for the people with a brain that might have noticed this glaring issue. Back to demon lore, the Devil or Satan is at the top of the heap and has too much going on to handle the day-to-day drudgery of possession so other demons like Pazuzu handle this, that is their job,.Working off the premise set by this movie the same demon from the first movie is possessing two girls, Now I am sure some studio dipshit was like it's about equality we will have a black girl and white girl both possessed by the same demon, since it will not discriminate. But that is like saying I am going to ride the bus and walk to work at the same time, even with the suspension of disbelief involved it makes no sense. 

So we are building a movie with a considerable budget that makes no sense. We are dragging Ellen Burnstyn and Linda Blair into a big-budget trash heap. The inclusive message continues to flounder as they drag multiple belief systems into the ritual of exorcism, which for a movie based on The Exorcist, the actual exorcism this movie builds up to is where the movie really begins to fall apart, The acting shows it's weakness, the effects are haphazard, like the portal that appears in the ceiling which looks like something from Diablo you need to click on to get to the next level. Once it got to what was supposed to be the best part of the movie found myself losing all interest, and moving to slowly power through this as it got unwatchable. 

It's a good thing the original movie is such a classic that is it bulletproof even with all its early 70s special effects because it has held up now 5 sequels, prequels, and additions that have all missed the mark in various ways. The only redeeming quality of this movie is it is not a remake of the original but another terrible sequel of sorts that is so poorly written it flushes all the movie spent on it down the toilet. My their mother suck cocks in hell. 

Film Review : " the Last Voyage of the Demeter"

This movie is better than 'Renfield". It should be as it's helmed by Trollhunter director Andre Ovredal. The Norwegian director understands he has to play Hollywood's game if he wants to play in Hollywood's toybox and move into the mainstream. Not that this film's opening weekend is going to help him with that, and there lingers a suspicion that if he trusted his gut. Instead he agreed to a screen play with weak characters , the main weakness it's protagonist who feels forced into the canvas of this tale. Granted we know the ship is doomed, but they could have made us care about the fate of the crew. Instead no one except the child and his dog are likeable characters. The movie looks good and captures a mood well, but aside from that things are paper thin, which might have still works if it was not for some of the more glaring problems. 

 The plot holes are so large you could sail the Demeter through them. The very premise of the film being called into question by one. This movie should be filling in the blanks of a story already told. One of the largest comes to glaring crack in the fissure of the premise with that fact that if  Dracula was on the ship to begin with it is  because as a vampire he can bodies of moving water. So why is he flying over water in the film's third act. No, you twit there can't be spoilers to the movie as it follows Dracula's arrival in London direct from Bram Stoker's source material.  If he could fly in this manner there would be no need, to take a boat to England rather than fly there , it's only a three hour flight . He has to move all the dirt from his homeland you say? Well if Dracula has the foresight to hire Johnathan Harker to help handle his business affairs then he could have had the dirt shipped ahead of time to Carfax Abbey. 

Dracula might be in a weakened state from travel at the beginning of the movie , but we never see him as the character documented in Stoker's work.  Instead we get a mocking monster who in it's best moments looks a little like a Nosferatu, but never captures the regal nature of the character. I get artistic license and wanting to do something new, but when you are pulling directly from a book, you have chosen your parameters. It's been brought up that this is basically "Aliens" and while that is true in the monster stowaway trope, I think they did the best they could to avoid that. I did not find this movie to be scary, but it was entertaining for what it was. though while "Renfield ' was overall a worse movie, I might at least preferred Cage's take on Dracula which had some Bela Lugosi moments to fall back on. Hollywood needs to learn nobody cares about the story they want to tell and we want the story that should be told, sure try it from different angles, but if you are making movies of icons like Dracula or the Wolf-man then balance your artistic twist in a manner that still honors that legacy.  Hopefully the spanking it took at the box office will drive this point home. 

Film Review : "Talk to Me"

 The only aspect of critical reactions to this movie that I agree with regarding "Talk to Me" is that it holds little common ground with the other A24 films. In fact A24 has nothing to do with the film except the fact that they acquired the rights to distribute it. This does not mean that there is much originality in the premise of the movie or the elements that cut and paste from other horror movies. The premise is the same as any of the "Ouija" films, they just replaced the Ouija board with a mummified hand. Stylistically "It Follows" is a fair point of reference, people who don't want to see are not going , as rather than a weird sex curse they are passing along the mummified hand. You can also see where they drew inspiration from movies like "Jacobs Ladder" and "Flatliners" , though at the end of the day it's the same kind of high school dramatics that fueled the "Final Destination" franchise. 

Is the problem the young actors , the directing or both? None of the characters are likeable. The supposed protagonist, is supposedly dealing with the loss of their mother, but come off as just being entitled as she endangers those around her. The misadventures that follow dabbling with the mummified hand, as a sequence of  bad ideas, that are almost like every "Don't go in the basement" type of horror retardation that has already killed off tons of stupid teenagers. The only manner it succeeds as a horror movie is the collection of bad ideas the characters follow to their demise, is the kind of discomfort horror movies, should generate, though if it was coupled with better writing and played less off preexisting tropes to the point of leaving you feeling you have already seen this movie before. 

I do prefer horror movies without happy endings, so this works in that regard. It's a similar brand of sinking feelings that cast a depressive sense of unease over the viewer, much like It Follows, in that regard, however it ignores who things work in the real world , like cops would have never let Mia go free the first time one of her friends went to the hospital, nor would she be able to come within fifty feet of said friend after the fact, kind of a big plot hole to fall through. After the film's trip to Cannes, I am sure the A24 marketing team was quick to promote the diverse cast, which still finds it's box office lagging behind "Cocaine Bear" , but outselling "Terrifier 2" to give you an idea of the films success, not that box office is a fair indication of a good movies, look at the Fast and Furious movies for an example in that regard. While I do want original horror instead of remakes, this movie almost a remake of several movies that it cobbles together as a celluloid Frankenstein's monster, and turns into into a mess plot wise, and just another teen horror movie marketed like a hip art house film, when it would be better left to Netflix, 

Film Review : "Evil Dead Rise"

 Someone was obviously impressed enough by Lee Cronin's 2019 " the Hole in the Ground" to hand him the reins to the Evil Dead franchise. The trailers led you to believe this was a prequel, and the film itself starts in a manner that shows it is unsure what it is. Given the modern setting it makes more sense to hear this is a sequel to the original films and not the remake, which now the press round surrounding this film there of talk of it beings a sequel as well.,  All Rami and Campbell had to do with the movie  is have the title executive producer by their names. In actuality this just means they agreed to endorse the movie with their stamp of approval. Campbell does a tiny Easter Egg's worth of voice work as Ash, but aside from that they have moved on after the series. This was originally intended to stream on HBO Max, but some focus group got high enough to tell them it was worth releasing in theaters. 

The acting is the film's strong point with Alyssa Sutherland of "Vikings" and "the Mist" shows, getting most of the praise here. Some will be impressed by the use of practical effects over CGI here. They used some very talented stunt doubles, and pump a lot of blood about , so if that is all you want from a movie, then why you even bother reading movie reviews is beyond me, as you do not like to invest much though in movies. If you want stories with few plot holes and character's that are more than cardboard stereotypes, then you are looking in the wrong place. The first twenty minutes was awful, and looking back on the whole movie, it's disjointed. The opening scene really only serves as subterfuge to make you think they are back in the Cabin when the bulk of the movie takes place in a Los Angeles high rise, that is being condemned and an earth quake traps the residents there while demons have been summoned. 

The only benefit of it taking place in a four bed room apartment is there was no where to run, but the same could be said of the cabin in the originals, and zombie movies are supposed to work off the feeling of claustrophobia. These films combine exorcism tropes with the absurdist zombie tricks to create their own charm that is not really felt here. It works of ridiculous gore while throwing out all the expected slogans like 'dead by dawn at you along with a wink to Ash's chainsaw. If that is all you need to be made a happy audience then you are just desperate for anything from this universe. The sillier aspects from the first few movies is not in play, I am not a huge Rami fan, and I like horror to take itself more seriously than juvenile vomit fetishes. This could have been edited down into one really good death metal video, but falls short of the other films and the entire horror genre. Ask yourself how bored are you when deciding to watch this. It took three sittings for me to make it through, glad I did not pay to see this in the theater, it was not terrible, but it was not a wise investment of 13 bucks either. 

Film Review : "Dungeons & Dragons - Honor Among Thieves"

 

The most common praise of this movie is going to be ...this is the best Dungeons & Dragons movie yet. While this it true, it's also a pretty low bar. The movie is a great deal of fun and capture's the feel of the game, but far from perfect.  As someone who has played the game for over forty years and is well versed in its lore I am not invested in the mythos of the modules and books, as I always came up with my own world. I have never used any of their deities or landscapes though I know them. Even more pedestrian fans of the game know Baldur's Gate and Neverwunter. The film makers were savvy enough to give the appropriate winks and load the movie with enough Easter eggs to appease fandom. The appearance of the kids from the 80s cartoon being my favorite.  In terms of cinematography the movies to weight it against are the first three Lord of the Rings movies that Peter Jackson helmed. The picture painted here is less realistic and more colorful than those. I really like the visuals of the Underdark, but felt it was amiss for the Drow to be left out, along with mind flayers who would have been more of an interesting adversary than the adversaries they faced down there. 

The acting is one of the weak links. You can say, well it is just a silly fantasy movie, but were any of the actors in Lord of the Rings not perfectly dialed in for their roles? We can lower the bar and ask how does the acting stand up against "Conan the Barbarian"?  Arnold is a shitty actor, but his physicality sold the role., Chris Pine was the most convincing.  Michelle Rodriguez did not feel primal enough to portray a barbarian. She was just a fighter with a low charisma that got upstaged by Bradley Cooper's cameo. And certainly, no Arnold given her lacking screen presence. I wish the Tiefling played by Sophia Lillis has been developed more as she pulled off her parts well. Fleshing out her character more would have raised the stakes. It was like Guardians of the Galaxy in tone in many ways including how the team nature of the cast was juggled.

It could have also used more monsters. There were enough to remind you it was about Dungeons and Dragons, but that was it. However the movie was well paced and kept the ride moving so it never dragged which is more than you can say for the more recent Marvel movies. Speaking of the Hollywood, factor the filmmakers had gone on records as saying they purposefully emasculated the male character to give the female characters more weight, and to their credit they did this in a way that did not raise any red flags or become a deal breaker that made me unreceptive to the rest of the film it just served the characters in a organic manner. Overall not perfect but a great deal of fun that kept me awake. 

Film Review : "Cocaine Bear"

 The viral title of the film is so silly it drew in the meme driven masses with the movie poster alone. The trailer sealed the deal. I went into the movie with my expectations set to the level of "Snakes on a Plane", so something so terrible it comes full circle to being good due to its camp. To my surprise, the budget was bigger and the acting better than "Snakes on a Plane". Not the only movie to come out this month that worked off a viral hype hurricane, "Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey" being the other film, hopefully it is not a trend this year, but they are quick to promote "Meth Gator" on the heels of this film's success, in its first weekend it clobbered the new Ant-man movie. It is certainly a lot more fun than Ant-man and funnier as well. Comedy is not normally my thing, but I will laugh at zany bear mauling and park rangers who shoot people in trying to stop them.

Based on true events, it's a fictional re-telling that director Elizabeth Banks calls the bear's revenge story. They are convincing in capturing their feel of Georgia in the 80's despite being shot in Ireland. There is more star power in this movie than what you expect from b-grade camp, it reunites "the Americans " actors Matthew Rhys with Keri Russell. However, the CGI bear is what is putting butts in seat, and it looks mostly convincing. My only complaint is in how the movie is shoot, it's too bright, the vivid colors work against blending the CGI beast. I get that 80s films were often shot in a similar fashion, but they were also not working with CGI characters and more practical effects, which could have played better for the gore, as the bodies often hit the ground like a fatality from Mortal Kombat.

I am not a fan of comedy, but unlike the movie itself the comedy here is dark enough to win me over. The child actors help keep the feel of 80s films without going Stranger Things. They did not go total hillbilly with the North Georgia setting, in fact the weird meth gang seemed like an odd depiction and more likely to have existed in California. This movie could have been darker and leaned more onto the horror side od the fence, but it was highly entertaining in the manner presented.  One way I gauge how good a movie is these days, especially when seeing a showing that is after 8 PM in a theater is did it keep me awake? "Infinity Pool" certainly did. Ant-man had some snooze moments, which can also be said about this movie, when we get diverted by the drug smuggling sub plot. Despite this I was fine with paying my 13 dollars to see this movie, and might watch it again. 

Film Review : "Winnie the Pooh -Blood & Honey"

I am not sure what you are expecting here, and to be honest I am not sure what I expected. In some ways it exceeded my expectations and in others it let me down, namely the acting and dialogue . Though it was not a deal breaker in that regard. The premise makes this a fantasy version of the Hills Have Eyes, but very British. Christopher Robbins works best in flash back sequences , as the adult version who finds his past is back to haunt him, is pretty annoying. He is a tiresome bitch. I hope the actor was just ad libbing , because if he was going straight from the script, then the writing is about as bad as it can get and still make the movie watchable. 

Where this movie gets it right is by having no interest in adhering to the code of horror movies for Millennials. Instead we get an old school slasher feel, where girls are on the run from Pooh and Piglet. In many ways this movie comes close to the original Terrifier , but does not try to gross you out with pussies being sawed in half. I think some of the kills could have been more inventive. The mythos of  Pooh in this telling of  his story gives you just enough background, but is vague on how human is he. He can clearly drive a car and Piglet likes sledgehammers. Pooh is on the Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees power level in terms of strength and durability.  

There are some cool shots, and tense moments. The motives of their murders is not clear and vary too wildly stylistically . I would have taken a different direction with some of the kills and made them more personas to the characters as I feel there were a great deal of missed opportunities in that regard. The acting is the worst element of this movie but when it comes to b -grade horror movies this falls in the middle of the road. The made the most of the budget they had to work with. I normally judge movies these days by how long it takes me to watch it , this one only got two viewings so that is not bad it keep my interest, things like the animated intro that lays down the back story work well and it starts off much better than you think it will though goes down hill with a rushed and sudden ending. It has been a good year for horror so far, this ranks at the bottom, but is better than most movies of this budget. 

Film Review : "Infinity Pool"

This movie is horror but not in the ways you think of horror. The concept is equal parts sci-fi in the concept of cloning. The body horror twisting the sense of identity was something also explored in director/ writer Brandon Cronenberg's last film "Possessor" Here it is taken a step further. The underlying message explores the social/political concepts of how other cultures see Americans. The invasion of drunk tourists who escape consequences, as well as some BDSM themes that are dabbled in. But the main takeaway is the beauty of the storytelling that is unfurled here which shows Brandon very mindfully carrying on his father's legacy. 

I want movies to disturb me and make me feel something. He successfully accomplishes this by creating an offsetting mood, where you see the road the characters are going down in their spiral into this abyss. Mia Goth continues to prove herself and her acting exceeds what she did in her work last year with TI West. There is not a clear-cut antagonist in this movie, but she would be in the running for it. The main theme is man vs himself, often the metaphor is clear, sometimes even literal. Masks are also a powerful symbol used, this sometimes creates a Clockwork Orange feel when things get reckless and characters give in to criminal urges.

What this movie does best is what I look for in not only horror movies but all cinema which is to take the darker ugliness and shoot it in a way that depicts it with stunning beauty. I want to see the worst perversity but shot in a way that makes it a surreal ballet. There is no real gore and even the violence is kept in check, but the violence is more of an attitude shaped by how bizarre trauma fragments someone and makes you question who is their real self. Death of self and shedding the condition weakness of the world unlocks a fearless animal inside and asks where is the line here. An excellent movie that leaves you with more questions like a dream you woke up in the middle of.    

       

the Top 10 Horror Movies of 2022

The key to horror is it has to somehow make me feel uneasy. Just gore is not enough, though there is one movie that made this year's list that really pushed gore to an absurd level. With streaming services, now providing original content it shakes things up and most of these movies are from overseas.  I think you can tell a great deal by society when it comes to the type of horror being consumed. After the pandemic I think we see people are afraid of everything, including old people, men, clowns, and things that are just not there. Surprised not more diseased based, though two did make the list. 

These might not be the movies that got the best Rotten Tomatoes score, though they all did pretty decent, nor are the most popular as the most mass marketed movies tend to be for the lower common denominator. If your favorite movie is not on the list, it is not because I did not see it as a saw most horror movies that graced small screen and the inner webs this year, it because in some cases your favorite movie was unimpressive or trying too hard, in other's well it was not that scary. So, these are movies that proved to engaged me in some way more than the other horror movies not on this list. Here are the top ten horror movies of 2022.

10-the Invitation

Being hungry for vampire movies I was eager for anything of any quality. This movie delivered it until the rather absurd ending, which is why did is receiving the bottom spot that is more of an honorable mention, but even with it's terrible ending it is better than the rancid Halloween Ends or the tedious boredom of Nope!. 

9-Terrifier 2

The reason this movie did not rank higher is while it fixed some of the issue of the first film, the first film might be better as the mood is more unhinged as it takes itself more seriously where this movie found the franchise beginning to conform to the horror tropes.  

8-Moloch

This Dutch film follows the folk lore of the peat bogs in another darker take on the folk horror genre. Very well made and possessed by a creepy atmosphere it relies less on formula and unwraps the character in the unveiling of its mythology. 

7-X

This TI West movie played off many of the slasher tropes we have seen before but given an enough of a new slant to feel refreshed. Old people killing off the young, is not a novel concept this year and maybe a guilty perspective for those who were calling Covid Boomer Doomer. Naked old ladies were the most disturbing part of this film. 

6- the Sadness 

Anytime I read someone on Facebook say that a movie is triggering, then I know it is for me. This was hyped as being extreme and over the top in it's shock value, but I found it to be just what horror movies should be.

5-Mandrake

This could fall under folk horror as witchcraft play a big part along with pagan belief systems, but it is darker and uglier than most of the movies that get that label. A witch gets out of prison to prove the town that was afraid of her right. Some urban legends turn out to be true. No one is safe in this movie which I appreciated immensely. 

4-Old People 

Netflix movies continue to prove themselves to be as legit as anything else coming from the major studios. This German film is surprisingly well done, the fact a virus made these old people go violent is understated and it comes across more like they were pulling a Twisted Sister and just not gonna take it anymore. Where this movie wins aside from the spectacular camera work is the build to pay ratio. Age is something that is given a terrifying new twist in this one.

3-Incantation

This movie from Taiwan is especially disturbing to me as a child is in peril for the bulk of the movie. The mother makes terrible decisions. Her past haunts her in the present as much as the ghosts and it's the emotional strings this movie manages to pull that make it unsettling. Anytime the story defies the normal Hollywood expectations it's a win in my book a well.  

2- Barbarian

This movie was very well written and fakes you out with the twist and turns it takes before conforming to good fun horror at the end. Not the most original concept as it works in themes from movies ranging from "the People Under the Stairs', "the Hills Have Eyes" and "8MM" into something that becomes its own. 

 1-MEN

The most original film took the top spot. Sure, you can lump it into the 'folk horror" sub-genre and while it does involve remote country sides and pagan rituals, those things are not what pumps the blood into this bizarre unfolding of what you think is going to be socially driven message that is mocked while turned inside out, which is what horror should do. Rory Kinnear delivers the Oscar worth performance that feels like only he could have filled the role. It is beautifully shot and captures the right amount of atmosphere while staying about from tired horror tropes.     

Film Review : "Skinamarink"

This movie is going to gain at least cult status with the traction it's getting because you have not seen anything like it before. That does not mean it is a good movie, as in order to accomplish this story telling and writing is out the window. It is very similar to when I review music, you find a band that has a sound like you have never heard before, while that novelty might hold your interest for the first five minutes of the album. Eventually the question becomes, but can you write a song? Movies are telling a story. They can look cool or in the case of this low budget art film, look different, but what is the story being told? That is not to say there is not a story presented in the weird, hushed darkness of this film, it is just obscured by the director’s stylistic choices. I am not sure there was an actual script for this, the making of this movie is so baffling in and of itself I am sure it could have been shot over the course of a weekend.  

 Imagine "Eraserhead" merging with "the Blair Witch Project:" and you are in the right ballpark if you factor in not really getting to see any of the actors more than the back of their head or feet for the entire movie, so perhaps this is shot from the perspective of their cat. It is creepy and it does create an unsettling mood. The fact that the two protagonists are small children, is the weird balance of what works with kids in horror movies. I am fine with kids getting killed or hurt in horror movies if it is well done and serves a purpose driven by the story, "Pet Cemetary" is a prime version of this. It is also handled really well in Boris Karloff ‘s “Frankenstein. But the fact these kids are so young and the situation they are put in is so unnerving that it seems like overkill where they go with this. The fact it happens off camera is a must. 

Is this worth watching? Well as an experience, yes not a lot happens for the bulk of the movie with creepy segments of interactions with the kids. Much like HP Lovecraft it is what you do not see that is the scariest, and this movie does not give you a great deal to see. We can talk about the mood it creates and the atmospheric manner in which it is shot, but at the end of the day it is what really killed this movie for me. By just getting surreal, they do not have to tell the story, they can offer up an idea and present the concept of what they are doing, but if you want them to make it go somewhere then I am sure there are art house gatekeepers who will defend this by saying it would be selling out to write an end. I joke while watching this that this is the film adaptation of the book “House of Leaves” . Both leave you with more questions than answers. Not something I would watch again, but I would read “:House of Leaves” as it is a puzzle that is worth solving while this movie is not. But if you like weird experiences this is that.

Film Review : "M3gan"

 

Is this a well done and often entertaining movie? Yes. Is it a horror movie? No. it has more in common with "Short Circuit" and "Ex Machina" than any of Chucky's films aside from the 2019 reboot. In fact, that movie highlights a crucial element in regard to why this is not a horror movie. After I watched the reboot with my daughter, I asked her if she could tell the difference between horror and sci-fi when you weighed the reboot against the original. She was only 9 at the time but said.

"Demon possessed dolls are horror and robots gone wrong are science fiction."  

After the buzz surrounding this movie was claiming the antagonist was a gay / feminist icon, it made me a little apprehensive, since I do not like my escapism drenched in agenda. However, it's the press that is misleading. as it has nothing to do with at all, aside from the robo-girl hunting down a bully, that is a boy who she claims will grow into a toxic man. But that one scene was easy to take in stride, rather than this being a movie that shoves that kind of message down your throat. Which leads me to believe that narrative the press was a marketing move after the fact. Is the M3gan character as interesting or well developed as Chucky? No. The dance it does a couple times in the movie is pretty silly, and the fact they parody Furbies is amusing as well.  

This is an easy watch, though not a movie I would really re-watch, as most of the jokes are one and done, it is not scary though there is a rather grim message this movie carries, which some of the post release propaganda seems to be a distraction from. This movie asks nothing about gender roles, but about the addiction to technology we are allowing children to develop. It is a commentary on parents who allow device to be the babysitter because they themselves are not present. But when you are glued to the screen trying to invest in who you are that is something we do not want to talk about, which is why the message is more important, as science fiction shows us both sides to the promise of the future. Most people who got caught up in AI art to make selves look like an over sexed version of this film's antagonist, do not what to think about the dire warning this movie gives. Also Just how said is it that people would want a killer robot to be the poster child for their cause? Unless their cause is about killing themselves and others while becoming a slave to technology then maybe it's a dance worth Tiktoking to. But when you strip away the bullshit and watch this movie for what it is, it proves to work more often than it doesn't, not a great film but a fun one.