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M3GAN 2.0 – Review

If there’s one thing we’ve learned after more than a hundred years of horror movies, it’s this: you just can’t keep a good “monster” down. That’s certainly true of the “Golden Age” icons, whether it was Frankenstein’s monster or Count Dracula (even in the “Silver Age,” it was a given that Christopher Lee would be back for blood). It may be more certain now in the age of “spin-offs”, prequels, and countless sequel. Plus it also extends to those fiends without flesh, like Chucky of CHILD’S PLAY. And now there’s a “gender flip” on that. Back in 2023 the January film “doldrems”, when often the thriller “dregs” would be dumped into the hungry multiplex, a chiller with a satiric “bite” brought us a new horror “heroine”. Well, she’s baaack! Finally, leaping off the toy shelf and into our nightmares comes M3GAN 2.0.

This one begins far away from the sunny California suburbs of the original. In the Middle East a super secret agent is on a rescue mission, which goes sideways. She’s ignoring all the orders from the US command center, as we learn that the agent is a robot. The story then shifts to an update on the main characters from the first flick. Gemma (Allison Williams) is part of media crusade warning parents about the dangers to their kids in the online world. But she has her own tech company with her loyal staff Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez). Gemma’s still the legal guardian to her niece Cady (Violet McGraw), who channels her trauma into her Aikido lessons. Oh, and Gemma’s in a thriving relationship with a former cyber-security expert, Christian (Aristotle Athari). But what she’s focused on right now is the powerful exo-skeleton they’re trying to sell to the tech billionaire mogul, Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement). That day doesn’t go well, but the night is even worse, when Gemma and Cady are awakened by home intruders. They’re not burglars, but rather, agents of the FBI. Their commander (Timm Sharp) tells Gemma that they want information about M3gan, whose designs were the basis for their now missing rogue spy assassin Amelia (Ivana Sakhno). After the “guests” leave empty-handed, Gemma is startled when the old M3gan program announces her return via the big screen TV (and other devices). Soon it becomes obvious that the only way to stop Amelia’s path of destruction that leads to a sentient “doomsday” device from the 1980s, is for Gemma and her gang to team up with M3gan. But can the devilish doll ever be trusted despite all the “fail-safe” software that Gemma installs? Will Cady be put in danger once more as they’re drawn into a vast conspiracy that could end the planet? These toys aren’t playin’ around!

Yes, the “old gang” is back together again. And their comic timing is just as sharp two years later. The leader of “the pack” is probably Williams, as the frazzled, but full of steely determination, Gemma. She’s still the protective “mama bear” even as she’s rattling off endless bits of “techno-jargon” while making us root for her as she is often needed to be the “voice of reason” or a real “wet blanket”. Her family “jewel’ is the nearly teenaged McGraw as the sassy and very “pro-active” ( a certain martial arts movie star is her “role model”) Cady. Epps and Jordan are quite the effective loyal but bumbling comedy team as “sidekicks” Tess and Cole. The big comedy MVP might just be Clement as the arrogant, abusive snob Alton, who could perhaps be a satiric riff on a real-life odd uber “tech-bro”. We’re just waiting and yearning for his sneer to be “deleted’ ASAP. Other comic standouts are Sharp as the gung-ho mucho macho spy chef and Athari as the too, too sensitive and empathetic nurturing BF Christian. As for the “big baddie”, Sakhno is the face of pure banal evil, with big expressive but vacant “peepers” as Amelia, the Terminator packaged as a waif-like supermodel. And though she’s a mix of stunt folks, puppetry, and CGi, special kudos should go to M3gan’s main body double Amie Donald and the supplier of her snarky quips, vocalist Jenna Davis.

And this veteran cast is guided by OG director Gerald Johnstone, who also collaborated on the script with Akela Cooper (who created the characters with James Wan). They’ve decided to opt for a completely different tone with this outing, skirting around much of the first one’s horror “vibe” and making a scathing parody of cyber “chaos” and firing lots of parody “salvos’ at the modern action “high concept” blockbusters. While some of the set pieces and sequences take on THE MATRIX, Johnstone and company have some fun with the worlds (and imitators) of JOHN WICK and James Bond (I’m surprised the big secret villain HQ wasn’t inside a dormant volcano). Like ALIENS, it takes on new targets, though the hardcore fans will enjoy a riff on the “meme-fodder” murder-dance of M3gan and her aggressive, snarky “attitude”, guaranteeing that she’ll be a popular costume for the next Halloween and beyond. The doll doesn’t get all the best gags as the evil ‘mastermind’ has a casual “sing song” delivery as he tries to be a “Michael Scott” style cool, friendly boss. Now, as with most of the “straight” action-thrillers it piles on the endings along with the henchmen bodies literally exhausting us with “overkill”. But it’s easy to forgive its over-indulgences when we get a truly uproarious song scene and a “bizarro” AI convention. Sure, the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE epics need a good drubbing and this demonic doll can certainly dish out the “burns” and cyber “side eye”. If you can handle sharp satire and even sharper weaponry, then you may want to “click”on the upgrade that is M3GAN 2.0. Powering down…

3 out of 4

M3GAN 2.0 is now playing in theatres everywhere

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE – Review

This weekend sees a big “first” for two media superstars that have been in the pop culture “zeitgeist” for ninety years! Well, that’s one of them because his “partner” is actually a couple of years shy of that (still impressive). So, how can they still be working in a new flick, let alone pulling off some amazing stuntwork that would make Tom Cruise envious? Okay, ya’ got me. They are cartoon characters, so they never really age (any wrinkles can be easily erased). They aren’t from the “mouse house”, rather they’re from one of the main Disney rivals in the short subjects market, though many would say that their home base really had no rivals for consistently hilarious cartoons from the 1930s to the early 60s. And they’ve never been the stars of a full-length feature, though they have had “supporting roles” in a few. So, it’s finally their time in the spotlight for the manic mallard and the stammering swine on THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE. As the former would bounce about and say, “Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!”.

Now, they’re “off-stage” as the story opens. A scientist that appears to be right out of a 50s sci-fi flick (glass, lab coat, etc.) is alarmed by a look through his telescope. It’s a massive meteor heading toward Earth. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a flying saucer zips ahead of the rock. The UFO speeds up to take out a big chunk of a home’s roof before landing in a field. The scientist heads to the crater, peers downward, and lets out a scream before a weird green gas envelops him. And now the story’s main heroes are introduced. We learn how the towering “Farmer” Jim (voice of Fred Tatasciore) adopted two orphaned animals and raised them as though they were his human offspring. When they reach adulthood, Jim disappears into the clouds after advising them to always take care of each other and their home. His big farmland has now been taken over by the suburbs of the town of Grandview, but still standing is that home now occupied by Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (both voiced by Eric Bauza), quite an “odd couple”. It’s a hectic morning when they realize that it’s the day of the town’s “home inspection”. They scramble to clean up, but it’s all for naught when the haughty inpector, Ms. Grecht (Lariane Newman) points out (how did the boys miss this) the big hole in the roof (which is dripping with an odd glowing green goo). The place will be torn down in a few days unless the guys get the cash needed to repair it. But the duo fails in every job they attempt, so they stop in at the diner where fate arrives in the form of a sweet sow named Petunia Pig (Candi Milo). She’s a flavor research scientist at Grandview’s big business, the Goodie Gum factory…and they’re hiring! The boys get a job on the assembly line, but while Porky makes time with Petunia, Daffy spies that opening scene scientist lurching like a zombie around the massive vat of “Super Strong-berry” gum (the new big roll-out flavor). The interloper then pours some of that green goo into it. Daffy’s conspiracy instincts kick in. Can he convince Porky and Petunia that something is off? And could it be connected to the meteor and the UFO?

To say this is a “love letter” to the artists at “Termite Terrace” (the Warner’s animation ramshackle HQ back in the day) would be an understatement. Much like the classic shorts, this feature deftly mixes smart satire (SF, zombie flick tropes, and rampant consumerism) with stunning slapstick (Daffy can pull a giant mallet out of thin air). Sure, it is set in the modern age (Daffy wants to be an “influencer”), but there are lots of affectionate nods (even “Easter eggs”) to iconic imagery. They try and become baristas at “Bean’s Brews” (Porky’s original feline sidekick), the duo don caps from the short “Baby Bottleneck” as Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse” music accompanies the conveyor belt, and even the great silhoutette bit that Tex Avery perfected. Speaking of the great animator icons, the main inspiration isn’t Mr. A, or Friz, Chuck, and R. McKimson, but the wild and wacky Bob Clampett (who gets a “shout out” and a “legacy” voice cameo). All the characters, especially the “lil’ black duck”, stretch, twist, and go delightfully “off model” in extreme forced perspective and screen-filling reactions. Much of the credit for the frenetic pacing and vibrant visuals (the surreal factory abstract sequence is super) has to go to director Peter Browngardt, who was also one of the fourteen (!) credited writers (hey, this is sixteen times longer than those shorts, so it makes some sense). Actually the only time the story starts to sputter is when a big conflict arises in the last act, perhaps to squeeze in some pathos and build some tension. But it doesn’t detract from the rousing finale and the overall sense of gloriously goofy and zany shenanigans.

Hey, here’s the duo from their first meeting in 1937’s “Porky’s Duck Hunt”!

Those stunning visuals are enhanced by the terrific vocal cast, who add lots of inspired energy even to the established toon superstars. I’m talking of course, about Mr. Bauza, who honors the legacy of the “man of a thousand voices” Mel Blanc with these reverent re-workings of the story terrific twosome. Milo also brings a lot of loopy fun to that “flavor fanatic” Petunia. Newman is a haughty hoot as the villainous “house enforcer”. But the main baddie may be the alien invader voiced by Peter MacNicol, who brings a campy menace to the long-fingered overlord, though I kept wondering why this wasn’t Marvin the Martian (perhaps they didn’t want to bring in more members of the classic ensemble). And speaking of honoring the originals, the soundtrack from Joshua Moshier seamlessly blends the Carl Stalling standards with sprightly new melodies, both merry and melodramatic. Oh, and you’ll enjoy that score over the end credits as you drink in the wonderful pre-production sketches and modeling poses (the scientist went through lots of variations). So, if you’re a fan of those original shorts or the recent batch made for the MAX streaming service, or just want to introduce your kiddos to those heroes of past Saturday mornings who actually inspired us to not sleep in after five days of school, do the Daffy “bounce’ into the multiplex for THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE. I hope that’s not all, “folks”!

3.5 Out of 4

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE opens in theatres everywhere on Friday, March 14, 2025

BOY KILLS WORLD – Review

Whew, it’s not even May, and the cinematic “body count” rises up considerably with another lone, determined warrior facing nearly insurmountable odds. I suppose this is more of the “JOHN WICK” effect, as filmmakers try to “up the ante” and deliver a flick with near wall-to-wall frenetic action. So far this year we’ve gone from the spy showdowns of ARGYLE to the avenger of the elderly THE BEEKEEPER, and winding up a couple of weeks ago with the manic MONKEY MAN (not to mention the ballistic ballerina ABIGAIL and THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE, which wasn’t shown to the press). For this week’s thriller we’re sent to a near future time in an exotic foreign land as, in a nod either to old Variety newspaper headlines or the beloved ABC TGIF sitcom, BOY KILLS WORLD.

And it is a nasty dystopian world for the preteen boy (Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti), who is being trained in the jungle by the surly, “slave-driving” Shaman (Yayan Ruhian). And just what is he being trained for? Revenge, natch’, against the leader (mayor, or perhaps president) of the nearby city-state Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen). It seems there’s been an annual event during her 25 years in office, a big ceremony/celebration known as “The Culling”. Basically, her thug army rounds up a dozen or so troublemakers for a public execution. Recently Hilda took out the boy’s kid sister Mina and their underground rebel mother. Somehow the Shaman whisked the boy into the woods and deprived him of his hearing and speech before the mentoring began. The years pass and the lad becomes an adult (Bill Skarsgard). He and the Shaman head to the city’s market on “Culling Eve” and witness an attack on the populace by Hilda’s forces led by her flashy, sleazy spokesman son-in-law Gideon (Sharlito Copley) and her speech-writing son Glen (Bret Gelman). During the melee, the “Boy” breaks from the Shaman and makes his way to a secret hidden weapons factory. After a furious battle, he teams with an enslaved worker, Basho (Andrew Koji) and the last of the “resistance” Benny (Isaiah Mustafa) to infiltrate the Van Der Koy mansion. But do they stand a chance against the minions commanded by daughter Melanie (Michelle Dockery) and spearheaded by the mysterious, savage June 27 (Jessica Rothe)? Maybe, if the boy can ignore the taunts of the ghost of his kid sister Mina (Quinn Copeland) and heed his inner voice (H. Jon Benjamin)…

After terrifying audiences as the child-killing clown Pennywise in the recent pair of IT flicks, Skarsgard puts those expressive dark eyes to good use as the film’s silent “wrecking ball”. And he communicates thoroughly whether he’s filled with adrenaline prior to battle, or must quickly formulate a new plan as things inevitably go awry. Most importantly Skarsgard conveys Boy’s sadness and his yearning for a time before the violence and the heartbreaking loss. We see that in his scenes with Copeland who goes from cute to snarky to coldly savage as the ghostly kid sister Mina (perhaps a nod to the Dracula heroine). The actors having the most fun might be the crew playing members of the Van Der Koy dynasty. Dockery is pure unbridled ambition as the calculating Melanie. Gelman is an erudite murderous “poison pen” as the pompous scribe Glen, a great sparring partner with the equally arrogant “showboat” Gideon. But none are more chilling than Mama played as an unpredictable unhinged “hair-trigger” by the aloof, slinky Janssen. Though he’s teaching and aiding the boy in his quest for justice, Ruhian could also be considered a “bad guy” as he appears to delight in his tasks of torture and agony. Rothe makes a compelling enforcer (with standards) as the enigmatic 6/27. And I must single out the snarky narration of Benjamin, mixing the Boy’s sense of wonder with the bravado of an old-style action hero.

Director Moritz Mohr, who co-wrote the film based upon his previous self-tittled short, has a kinetic frenetic visual style, which may be what attracted producer Sam Raimi (I’m sure his EVIL DEAD trilogy was an inspiration). He puts you right in the thick of the action as the camera seems to dance about the combatants, weaving in and out, leaving the viewer nearly spent after a big stunt sequence. Yes, the energy is up, but it becomes somewhat repetitive after a bit, even to the point of (sorry) “overkill”. Maybe it’s too soon after the superior MONKEY MAN, but the story seems to lurch between the big battle sequences. Yes, there are some very clever ideas, with “The Culling” mixing elements of THE HUNGER GAMES, THE PURGE, and a touch of THE RUNNING MAN and the visor on the helmet of June 27 projecting digital messages (“Back away”, “No kids” and, of course “F#$* you”). It adds to the casual inhuman cruelty of the Van Der Koys, who also seem to stand in for many despised “one-percenters”. And there are a few amusing “call-backs”, particularly Boy’s inability to read the lips of Benny, resulting in a strange deluge of nonsense words. But just as the script shows a bit of wit, we’re soon drowning in a sea of gore (the CGI plasma bursts quickly became stale), perhaps hitting its zenith with a tribute to the Black Night of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (I kept waiting for the drug-fueled goon to shout, “None shall pass!”). Mohr tries to dazzle us with some third-act plot twists and reveals, but we’re too pummeled by the body count to really care. Even action flick junkies may feel as though they’ve been “over-served” by the indulgences and excess of BOY KILLS WORLD.

2.5 Out of 4

BOY KILLS WORLD is now playing in theatres everywhere

LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL – Review

Being an avid fan of “old school” horror (almost a “monster kid” since I devoured “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine, built the Aurora model kits, and scooped up the Super 8 Castle Films abridged versions of the 30s ad 40s Universal classics), I try to keep an open mind to the newer films, even the “sub-genres”. One of those is the “found footage” chiller that probably established itself with its biggest hit THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. It opened the floodgates for jittery, shakey phony home video slightly “tweaked” via software trickery. The multiplexes are so bombarded that I almost dread a new one. Oh, but an Aussie filmmaking duo has come up with a new “twist’ that keys right into another bit of nostalgia: classic TV not from the “golden age’ of the 50s, but the often “schlocky” stuff of the 70s. Plus it’s not from daytime or prime time (8 to 11 PM EST). I mean what kid 47 years ago wouldn’t try to sneak downstairs to the massive 19-inch console TV, sit close to the screen so you can keep the volume low (and not wake up the parents), and gaze at the “forbidden fruit” of LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL? Oh, the night school day is going to be rough…

The big “conceit” is the existence of a talk show host who tried to topple the “king of late night” Johnny Carson and his “Tonight Show” on NBC. In the opening prologue, we learn of a seedy “upstart” syndicated network, UBC, and their “jewel”, the live show “Night Owls with Jack Delroy”. Its host (David Dastmalchian) is a slightly awkward Chicago DJ who’s now the headliner in the network’s NYC hub. Naturally, there’s a band and a dweeby stooge/sidekick, Gus McConnell (Rhys Auteri). It hit the airwaves in 1971, and soon…made no headway at all against Johnny. Jack’s constantly on the verge of cancellation, despite the influence of his membership in a private secretive millionaire’s club “The Grove”, until he interviews his wife, Madeleine (Georgina Haig), who is in a losing battle with breast cancer. After she succumbs, Jack leaves his show… temporarily. When he returns Jack decides to set the show apart from the landscape of late night by tackling controversial, often exploitive topics and courting confrontation (telling several guests to “hit the bricks”). This all sets the stage for the unaired Halloween show of 1977. After a twitchy monologue Jack brings out a “speaker for the deceased” Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) whose segment takes a truly dark turn when he’s rushed away to a hospital. Perhaps his exit was spurred on by a heated exchange with magician and paranormal debunker Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss). But this is nothing compared to the night’s “big get” as Jack brings on scholar/author June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and the subject of her book “Conversations with the Devil”, teenager Lilly D’Abo (Ingrid Torelli), the only surviving member of the Abraxas satanic cult. Actually, a demon they worshipped, Lilly calls him “Mr. Wriggles”, can speak through her. Soon the show goes completely “off the rails” when Jack pressures June to set up a “session” with Lilly and Mr. W, mostly to humiliate Haig. From then, the Neilsen Ratings are the very least of Jack’s troubles…

One of the busiest character actors, bouncing in and out of several franchises and genres (he’s in the MCU, the DCEU, Dune, the recent Dracula spin-off, even OPPENHEIMER), Dastmalchian truly gets a chance to shine in the lead role as the in-over-his-head Delroy, employing his comic “chops” in the TV monologue sets before settling into weasily desperation and the dread of his plunge into televised Hell. Perhaps Jack was most comfortable riffing into a radio mike since Dastmalchain conveys a near-constant “flop-sweat” making it clear that this guy would never dethrone Carson. He’s certainly not helped by Atueri as the cringyly awkward “second banana” who is easily rattled and demeaned. One of his main bullies is the producer of the show, Jack’s manager and “right hand” Leo Fiske (Josh Quong Tart) an arrogant, unethical opportunist. Much of that is true for Bliss as Haig, a pompous gasbag who fancies himself as a modern Houdini, though he’s playing his own “con” while flaunting his righteous superiority. Gordon is quite good as the morally conflicted doctor who truly cares for her patient despite the blatant exploitation of her trauma. And as that patient, Lily, Torelli effortlessly goes from a sweet helpful young woman to a taunting harpy who could be the conduit for fiery chaos.

Oh, the Aussie duo I mentioned earlier are the Cairnes Brothers, Colin and Cameron, the film’s writing and directing “tag team”. They truly score a “hat trick” with their third feature as they tread a fine line between satire and terror. Working with their artisans they carefully recreated the tacky period from the polyester suits (and massive neckties) to the TV set furnishings complete with multi-color graphic backdrop walls, and even the “stay tuned, we’ll be right back” art card “bumpers” (supposedly made with AI). Once we settle in and stifle our nostalgic giggles, the story shifts gears into nightmare territory as we become invested in the often caricatured “guests”. There’s even a nice nod to horror flicks of that era with the use of practical effects involving puppetry, prosthetics, and mood lighting (when they go to “commercial” the backstage footage is in docu-style handheld monochrome). Sure, we’re kind of stuck in the studio, but it never feels claustrophobic or “stage” as the feeling of dread increases By the final denouncements, we’re left to ponder the fate of the principals and how or who put everything “into motion”. It all makes for a most interesting exploration of TV talk show terror in the imaginative and audacious LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL.

3 Out of 4

LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL is now playing in select theatres.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE – Review

Director/writer Jeymes Samuel seems to have been inspired by those Hollywood’s long tradition of epic Biblical movies, like BEN HUR and THE ROBE to try his own version of those big-screen extravaganzas mixing Bible stories with adventure and action for THE BOOK OF CLARENCE – but with a big comic twist. With a plenty of humor, some social commentary and with a mostly Black cast playing the Jewish population of “Lower Jerusalem” in 33 A.D., Jeymes Samuel aimed to create a new, entertaining version of this venerable movie genre. The result is a movie with one foot in something like BEN HUR crossed with Monty Python’s LIFE OF BRIAN, with a touch of Mel Brooks’ HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1. THE BOOK OF CLARENCE is a cinematic creation that teeters precariously and unevenly between the wisecracking and the reverent, sometimes making head-spinning switches from one to the other.

Often, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE does hit the mark on comedy, and even on social commentary. It also often hits the mark on the touching and gentle faith-inspired moments. It is in putting those two together in one movie where this movie hits rough patches.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE both honors the classic Hollywood Biblical epic and sometimes mocks it, a film with both faith and low comedy. It opens with wonderfully-ornate classic Hollywood titles to introduce its chapters, and the film has high-quality production values, with fine sets and costumes, so that it evokes the epics that inspired it. Further, it has an excellent cast, led by the gifted LaKeith Stanfield as Clarence, and including Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy.

Clearly, Jeymes Samuel comes at this production from a place of sincere faith but just as clearly he wants the audience to have fun, laugh, and be entertained. But the humor, which tends to low-brow, and the serious, which leans to sentimental or touching, don’t often mesh in this movie. Low comedy in the style of Mel Brooks is hilarious and fine on its own, but it doesn’t work in every movie story, especially one that strays into the sentimental or touching. The two just clash here.

It is an ambitious project and a tough balancing act to pull off, and Samuel deserves credit to the attempt, even if the mix of humor and faith doesn’t always work, sometimes whip-lashing from a serious scene to a joke with head-spinning speed. with a movie that seems often off-balance. Still, for the right audience, one willing to ignore that uneven tone and whiplash shifts, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE’s underlying sincerity might come through.

Like in LIFE OF BRIAN, this story is set in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus, and the central character, Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), is someone who is continually mistaken for Jesus. But in this case, it is not an accidental case of mistaken identity. No, Clarence is a con-man, a non-believer who deliberately creates that confusion, with faked miracles and the aim of gathering donations from a crowd of followers.

Like BEN HUR, there is a chariot race, in this case the opening scene where Clarence and his buddy Elijah (RJ Cyler) attempt to win a chariot race to win a big cash prize, bankrolled by a local tough guy called Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), They lose, leaving Clarence in debt to this loan shark.

But this 33 A.D. Jerusalem is full of Messiahs, something that makes the Romans rulers nervous, fearing it is a lead-up to rebellion. Clarence is an ambitious young man, hoping to be “somebody” and struggling under the ruling Romans’ thumb like everyone else and a host of personal problems. Ironically, he loses that opening-scene chariot race to the fiercely independent woman (Anna Diop) he is secretly in love with, who also happens to be the sister of that loan shark to whom he now owes money. Clarence is also the twin brother of Jesus’ apostle Thomas (also Stanfield), who looks down on his never-do-well twin, while Clarence resents his brother for abandoning their sick mother (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) when he left to follow Jesus, leaving Clarence to nurse her back to health.

Director Jeymes Samuel clearly knows the Gospels well but has no problem playing around with the Jesus story to suit his film. Clarence lives in economically depressed “lower Jerusalem” and the residents of Jerusalem are played by a mostly Black cast, while the Romans are played by white actors. Although we see what appears to be Hebrew writing on the signs and walls, there is no mention of Jews or Judaism.

The humor tends to be low-brow and sometimes even slapstick, like when Clarence meets Jesus’ mother Mary (Alfre Woodward) and pointedly quizzes her about being a virgin, resulting in a slapstick scene. That style of comedy is hard to integrate with more serious or reverent scenes. Some serious scenes are touching but others are melodramatic or too pat, which also does not help matters.

The film is filled with familiar Biblical figures. Nicholas Pinnock plays Jesus, while David Oyelowo plays a hyper-critical John the Baptist and Omar Sy plays a superhero type Barabbas, who becomes Clarence’s pal. James McAvoy plays a chilling Pontius Pilate, rounding up all those roving Messiahs, while Benedict Cumberbatch plays a beggar covered in dirt and rags, who gets a makeover and a bath, transforming him into the Renaissance image of Jesus, with the expected adoration results.

BOOK OF CLARENCE has plenty of problems, including not quite being able to decide if it wants to be a comedy or a more serious film about faith and belief. But in a movie world of re-makes, re-boots, sequels and prequels, one has to give Samuel credit for doing something fresh.

In a movie world of re-makes, re-boots, sequels and prequels, I want to give Samuels credit for doing something fresh. But if you come to THE BOOK OF CLARENCE looking for a revival of the classic Hollywood Biblical epic, you may be disappointed. If you come for comedy and action only, you also may be disappointed. However, for some audiences, more willing to just go with the movie’s shifts of tone and style and embrace it for the quirky, faith-based thing it is, THE BOOK OF CLARENCE may be just the funny, inspiring, quietly reverent film they are looking for. It isn’t everyone but there may be an audience for this sincere cinematic if offbeat effort.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE opens Friday, Jan. 12, in theaters.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

AMERICAN FICTION – Review

Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in writer/director Cord Jefferson’s AMERICAN FICTION. An Orion Pictures Release. Photo credit: Claire Folger. © 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Everyone wants to feel seen as who they are, not who others think they should be. In the smart, hilarious comedy/drama AMERICAN FICTION, college professor/author Thelonious Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), called “Monk” by family and friends, is frustrated when a publisher turns down his latest novel for not being a “Black novel.” “I’m Black, and I wrote it, it’s a Black novel,” the author complains to his agent Arthur (John Ortiz). “Your books are good,” the agent tells him, “they’re just not popular.” It seems his books just don’t fit audiences’ preconceived notions of what a Black novel should be – gritty, urban, struggling, violent perhaps. At a literary conference, Ellison hears author Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), a Black academic like himself, read from her own latest hit novel, a novel that fits those expectations. The frustrated Ellison decides, sarcastically, to write a novel that hits all those expected stereotypic beats – as a joke. Except the joke finds a publisher.

Smart, clever AMERICAN FICTION is simply laugh-out-loud funny, perhaps the year’s funniest film, and also has an unpredictable story that you never know where it will go next. Director/writer Cord Jefferson based his excellent film on Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure,” but much of the success of the film goes to the film’s cast, which also includes Sterling K Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz and Leslie Uggams, and to Jefferson’s script. Besides being a biting, clever satire – of publishing, of the reading public, of contemporary American culture overall, and the meaning of “authentic” – that builds to breathlessly funny absurdity as this joke spins out of control, the film is also an insightful, even warm family drama, as the lead character, no flawless hero himself, is forced to deal with his not-too-functional family and his own shortcomings.

A curmudgeonly grumbler, Monk has been, informally, put on leave for the semester from his teaching job, for offending the sensibilities of a student. His dean suggests that he go to the literary conference he has planned to attend (where he hears that other author), and then stay on to visit with his Massachusetts-based family to “relax.” “You think spending time with my family is relaxing?” Monk snorts. Turns out, college professor/author Monk is a bit of a “black sheep” in his affluent Black family, where both his sister Lisa (Tracee Ellis Ross) and brother Clifford (Sterling K. Brown) are doctors, and his widowed mother Agnes (a wonderful Leslie Uggams) is vaguely disappointed in her youngest child.

Monk’s sister Lisa (a wonderful Tracee Ellis Ross) teases her sourpuss brother Monk relentlessly but there is an affection between them underneath it. Since Monk lives on the other side of the country, he has not seen the decline in their mother that Lisa is dealing with. She tells Monk that things are not going well with their mother, who seems to be in the early stages of dementia, and asks her brother for help getting her into assisted living.

It is a topic nearly all families deal with at some point as parents age, and having one sibling avoiding the topic while another is shouldering the larger burden is a familiar theme too. Early cognitive decline means his mother’s filter is sometimes off, and Leslie Uggams’ Agnes Ellison veers between fondly fussing over her younger son, and painful criticism and even some embarrassing non-PC remarks, in a fine performance.

Monk gets along much better with his sister than his brother Cliff, and Sterling K Brown gives a striking performance as Cliff, an out-spoken cosmetic surgeon, recently out of the closet and going through a messy divorce. There are verbal sparks between the brothers and personalities clash big time.

AMERICAN FICTION unfurls along two narrative tracks in brilliant parallel, one a farcical path about what happens with that “joke” novel and the other a sharp family comedy/drama. The very talented Jeffrey Wright giving a outstanding performance that is by turns bitingly funny and the other touchingly human, creating a character with real depth. The other narrative track has humor too but also a dash of realism, as Monk grapples with his family issues and his own flaws.

The bulk of the laugh-out-loud humor comes from the thread about the “joke” novel. At the literary conference, Issa Rae hits the right notes as the scholarly, erudite academic Sintara Golden, who jars us when she reads in street slang from her inner-city set novel, and then is praised for the novel’s “authenticity,” despite the mismatch between who she is and the characters in the novel (a subject that comes up in a later scene between the two writers). Irritated by the response to her novel, Monk writes his sarcastic “joke” book, a memoir titled “My Pafology” under a pseudonym that should have been a tip-off: Stagg R. Leigh. Shocked when a publisher expresses interest, Monk tries to wave it off but his agent presses him to go ahead and sell it – because he needs the money. That requires that the buttoned-down Monk pose as fugitive ex-con author Stagg R. Leigh in dealing with the publishers, who are far too thrilled to be dealing with the “dangerous” but cool Stagg R. Leigh, in some hilarious scenes.

Monk finds himself living two lives, and trying to keep them separate, a situation rich in humor potential that both Cord Jefferson and Jeffrey Wright use hilariously. The film also has a love interest, with a neighbor, Coraline (Erika Alexander), at the family’s beach house, which adds another layer of complexity to Monk’s already complicated life.

Few movies are as smart and funny as AMERICAN FICTION, and few actors who could carry the lead role in it as perfectly as Jeffrey Wright. This is a must-see film, and a film on my and many critics’ Top Ten lists for 2023’s best films, and it is a sure thing to continue to garner nominations and win awards as the movie awards season makes its way to the Oscars.

AMERICAN FICTION opens Friday, Jan. 5, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

FALLEN LEAVES – Review

FALLEN LEAVES is a romantic comedy from Finland, with the driest of humor. Bone-dry does not cover it; this is a Sahara Desert of dry humor. No one cracks a smile and no one winks at the audience as they deadpan their satiric comedy lines. This is also the bad-luck couple of the year, who can’t seem to catch a break, except through the most absurd of coincidence. FALLEN LEAVES is undeniably funny, in it deadpan Nordic way but you have to meet the humor on its own terms. It is not there to help you.

If all that sounds good to you, dive in. Personally I like Nordic humor and I appreciate the film’s touches of social commentary in its absurdist humor, but it is not for everyone.

In Helsinki, two lonely people meet by chance. Ansa (Alma Pöysti) lives alone and works in a supermarket, where her job is to pull expired items off the shelf and throw them in the trash. Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) is a metal worker who has a drinking problem and thinks he’s just fine living alone. Holappa’s co-worker Huotari (Janne Hyytiainen), a middle-aged guy still hoping to find love, talks the taciturn industrial worker into going to a karaoke bar. There Holappa spots blonde pretty Ansa, who is there with some of her co-workers, and changes his mind about being OK with a lonely life. Ansa and Holappa exchange looks but not words, and certainly not names, even when Holappa’s pal tries to strike up a conversation with one of her co-workers after his karaoke song.

Holappa is a man of few words and Ansa is a woman of few words, but their co-workers pepper the air with satiric remarks and dry-humor social commentary. After Holappa’s co-worker sings his romantic karaoke ballad, he starts talking about being “discovered,” waiting for a record contract, and how amazing his singing was – all with such determined deadpan that we’re not even sure he’s joking.

It’s typical of the humor in FALLEN LEAVES, whose title translates literally as “dead leaves.” Another bit of absurdist humor happens at Ansa’s job, when she is fired for “theft” after the store manager discovers an expired-product cookie in her purse. Ansa objects, rationally, that the item is being thrown away anyway but the store manager counters that if it doesn’t go in the trash, it’s stealing. Two of Ansa’s co-workers, who have been watching this exchange, then pull out expired items from their purses, and quit in protest over her firing, even though the manager, absurdly, tells them they can stay because they surrender the items voluntarily.

Of course, this creates a problem for the budding romance, when Holappa goes to the grocery store to look for Ansa – the only think he learned about her at the bar the night before – only to discover she doesn’t work there any more. It’s the first of the comedy’s many missed-connections routines. Of course, chance then intervenes to put them back together again, before it tears them apart again. And again and again. This road never did run smooth, you know.

This Finnish-German comedy-drama is the fourth in a series from writer/director Aki Kaurismäki. The previous films in his “Proletariat” series on ordinary working people are SHADOWS IN PARADISE (1986), ARIEL (1988), and THE MATCH FACTORY GIRL (1990).

The time period of this romantic comedy-drama is deliberately unclear – there are items from earlier decades, like a vintage radio, retro furniture and dated clothing, but the radio broadcasts are from 2022 or 2019 (with Russia invading Ukraine). The couple go to a movie theater and see a 2019 horror-comedy (Jim Jarmusch’s THE DEAD DON’T DIE) – but all the movie poster outside are for films from a range of eras. A calendar in another scene says that it is 2024, so who knows. Obviously, we’re not supposed to.

FALLEN LEAVES is full of satiric and absurdist humor, often delivered by passers-by or minor characters, and in off-hand manner. The two leads, Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, actually do a good job in their challenging roles, touchingly conveying damped-down feelings between two people who seem incapable of expressing feelings, which is kind of sweet. However, while this dry-humor film certainly has its comic moments, this romance between two nearly-silent people may not be one that lingers in memory.

FALLEN LEAVES, in Finnish with English subtitles, opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 1.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

DREAM SCENARIO – Review

*(L-R) Nicolas Cage in DREAM SCENARIO. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs. Courtesy of A24*

DREAM SCENARIO is more of a nightmare for Nicholas Cage’s character, in this darkest of comedies from Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli, a social satire commenting on the power and irrational nature of social media. While Cage’s character is not having a good day, actor Nicholas Cage looks like he is having a grand old time, relishing this role as a hapless guy at the center of this outside-the-mainstream dark comedy.

Like his role as a backwoods recluse in PIG, Cage is anything but prettied up for this part, playing an aging, balding professor whose ordinary guy life is upended when random people start seeing him in their dreams.

At first, Cage’s middle-aged academic is sort of flattered by the attention, although he has done nothing to cause his dream appearances. The biology professor hopes it will help him find a publisher for his book on animal behavior, a book he hasn’t yet even written.

A running theme in this satiric comedy, which goes darker and darker until its bitter end, is the pervasive power of social media, to elevate and to demonize, even when the focus on that attention does nothing to deserve either. But so are the danger in unfulfilled dreams and a wasted life. In some ways, Cage’s professor has done this to himself by setting the stage for the destruction – by not doing enough with his life, by just drifting and floating downstream in his comfortable life.

Hapless family man Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) has a pretty comfortable life. A dowdy tenured professor at a small college, he lives in nice home with his beloved wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and two daughters Sophie (Lily Bird) and Hannah (Jessica Clement). Still he radiates a sense of feeling like he is missing out, of unfulfilled potential. He is irritated by students who barely listen in his zoology lectures, and he talks frequently about publishing a book on his research but worries about finding a publisher. Right now, Paul is unhappy that another academic , someone he worked with in grad school, is publishing a book on research on ant behavior they did together. Of course, Paul never published his work himself but he’s still upset.

Actually, Paul hasn’t even written the book he talks about endlessly. He feels left out that another professor he’s known for years has never invited him and his wife to their storied, intellectual dinner parties. Basically, he doesn’t feel like he is taken seriously. And he’s right, because he’s been drifting through life for years, wrapped in the comfort of his family life, while everyone around him has moved forward.

Paul plans to confront this former colleague, who was also an old girlfriend, about her book, when they meet for coffee, where Paul assumes she is going to ask for permission to use their shared research. He hasn’t seen her in years yet she reached out about meeting, and although he loves his wife, Paul also seem a bit too eager to see this old girlfriend, wondering if that she is still carrying a torch for him.

Instead of discussing her upcoming book or any romantic feelings, he discovers what she wants to talk about is her dreams – nightly dreams in which he has started appearing. She wants permission to write about that on her blog.

Then it turns out a lot of people are seeing Paul in their dreams – millions of people he never met – and suddenly Paul is a social media sensation.

He just appears in their dreams as a passive presence, not a participant, even if terrible things are happening in the dream to the dreamer. Paul is kind of unhappy that he does nothing to help but there isn’t anything he can do to change someone else’s dream.

The professor is confused about the sudden fame, because after all he isn’t actually doing anything, but he quickly warms to all the attention. People seek him out, ask for his autograph and listen in his lectures – or at least seem to listen.

Then the dreams shift, and suddenly Paul becomes a negative presence, even a threatening one, in the dreams. The social media landscape changes with that, and then so does Paul. DREAM SCENARIO heads into ever-darker comedy and eventually towards psychological horror.

Tim Meadows gives a very funny, dry humor performance as Paul’s boss and friend, who really does not understand anything of what is happening. Michael Cera is spot-on in his role as one of the marketing executives hoping to cash in on Paul’s unexpected, unique fame.

This wicked comedy is the work of writer/director Kristoffer Borgli, whose previous film SICK OF MYSELF is a Norwegian/Swedish film also in a darkest comedy vein. Nicholas Cage is clearly having a wonderful time playing this schlub of a man, vain and unaccomplished soul despite his apparent early promise. This comically stiff character is very different from the reclusive slob Cage played in PIG but the actor’s skill and joy in stretching his acting muscles is just as apparent.

Cage is a great choice for this part, exceeding in the comic parts that dominate early on, but able to give the character a depth and complexity to carry the film as he falls into his personal hell. Despite Cage’s penchant for silly shallow roles and scenery chewing, a film like this shows that the actor really does have the goods to soar in his crafts.

One of the funniest satiric moments comes when Cage’s clueless professor agrees to work with a promotional company, a particularly absurd idea. The professor is hoping to find a publisher for the scholarly book he has not yet written but the agency has other things in mind, looking for ways to cash in on his unexpected fame, suggesting finding a way to insert product placement into his appearances in other people’s dreams. That nightmarish thought is persists as this tale unfolds.

The first two-thirds of DREAM SCENARIO are howlingly funny but then it takes a sinister turn, where the last 20 minutes are a painful slog of deep humiliation for Cage’s sad character. Having stripped everything away from Cage’s flawed but harmless character, writer/director Kristoffer Borgli continues to beat this dead horse long after the point has been made about toxic social media. With the plot’s social media-driven events having destroyed 90 percent of this character’s life, the film goes on to make sure we see every crumb of that life smashed and ensure we are clear there is no hope left at all, a squirm-inducing experience that strips any sense of comedy from the film’s remaining moments, transforming it into nightmarish tragedy. Borgli just doesn’t know when to leave this party, and seems determined to leave us with as grim and uncomfortable feeling as possible. Perhaps the director wants to ensure his film is memorable, and the last section does do that. It is memorable but not in a good way, just making us want to avoid ever seeing the film again.

DREAM SCENARIO offers a cautionary tale about social media and about a life not fully lived, in a darkest comedy form. Nicholas Cage gives a hilarious and then wrenching performance as a too-passive, too-small man whose life is upended by social media and events over which he has no control. Cage’s performance and the first two-thirds of the movie are excellent but the last twenty minutes, for many of us, are not an experience you’ll want to repeat.

DREAM SCENARIO opens Friday, Dec. 1, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

THE BLACKENING – Review

*Antoinette Robertson as Lisa, Grace Byers as Allison, Jermaine Fowler as Clifton and Dewayne Perkins as Dewayne in The Blackening. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson. Courtesy of Lionsgate*

A group of college friends gather at a cabin in the woods, for a weekend reunion of sorts. What could go wrong? Well, we know what could go wrong, but the twist in the comedy-horror film THE BLACKENING is the all-black cast and the comedy-horror film’s determined satiric skewering of that old horror film knack for killing off the Black character first. But like the film’s tagline says, they can’t all die first.

In fact, THE BLACKENING leans much more into satiric comedy than horror, having fun with every little horror trope, not just the racist ones. But it does whittle down the group of friends as it goes and provides some jump scares. On one level, the humor is smart and knowing but it has plenty of quick, broad humor. If it is GET OUT meets SCARY MOVIE, it favors the latter a bit more, from the director who brought us BARBERSHOP and RIDE ALONG, Tim Story.

The talented all-Black cast includes Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji, with a lone exception – a white policeman (James Preston Rogers). The long -time friends are the usual assortment of lovers and ex-lovers, old best friends and old enemies, the big ego guy and the shy guy, and someone no one likes. While director Tim Story keeps things on the funny side, he also keeps the pace fast so there is hardly a moment between bits. This is essentially an ensemble film, although each cast member has their spotlight moment, and it is often the whole cast of characters working together in scenes. Or those who are left at least.

A lot of the mayhem starts in the game room, which is filled with tons for familiar board games and more, which makes it a draw for the game-loving guests. But there is a certain unfamiliar board game on table in the center of the room, bearing the name of the movie, “the Blackening,” with some disturbingly racist content. As the victims fall, the terrified people remaining race from place to place (as everyone always does in horror movies) while they try to figure out who is doing this, and why. Is it a murderous stranger? A racist madman? Is it that white cop? Someone they know with a grudge? One of them?

The humor is sharp and satiric, delivered in a rapid-fire manner. The film has its roots in a sketch by the comedy group 3Peat on Comedy Central in 2018. While the humor works for any audience, it is particularly geared to delight a Black audience, with winking in-jokes and more. There are moments of pointed humor, playing with all those horror tropes like the room full of games.

Real scares are scarce but the room itself is has its sinister side, with its creepy racist game and the fact that the green door is sometimes locked, sometimes not, and the door itself is sometimes hidden. But for the most part THE BLACKENING pours on the comedy, making use of all that horror film potential with humor squarely aimed at a Black audience in particular. This is broad humor for the most part, often delivered rapid fire, with the occasional sly joke. With the movie’s fast pace, hardly any horror film cliches escape un-skewered

THE BLACKENING is not a high-concept twist on the genre like GET OUT was (nor does it intend to be) but is a light and crazy comedy-horror film that focuses laser-like on those characters often killed off first and pokes fun at the genre’s flaws. Anyone can enjoy is horror movie fun, but it is a special treat for Black horror fans.

THE BLACKENING opens Friday, June 16, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

M3GAN – Review

If 2022 could be known as the year of the male puppet, with two different versions of the fairy tale classic PINOCCHIO, then 2023 is shaping up to be the year of the female doll. A few weeks ago the internet nearly broke with the first teaser for BARBIE, which looks to be a candy-colored comedy. Oh, but that’s still months and months away, isn’t there any new toy-themed flicks out right now? Oh yes, there is, and she’s a terror. And though she looks like the kid cousin of Mattel’s queen she’s closer in spirit to Chuckie. Well, she’s lifesize and like last year’s movie subject, she’s “got no strings” on her. And unlike “Talking Tina” from TV’s Twilight Zone, she doesn’t just whisper threats. The “follow-through” is one of the upgrades on the interactive, and homicidal, doll called M3GAN.

To throw us a bit off-kilter, the story starts with a commercial for another toy. A talking fuzzy troll-like, puppy-sized toy has the kids flipping out, and their parents doling out the dollars. One of the toy’s fans is ten-year-old Cady (Violet McGraw) who is driving her parents crazy with its constant chatter. Mom’s regretting that her sister who helped invent the toy gave them such a good deal on it. But that’s the least of her worries as hubby can’t seem to navigate a curvy mountain road during a snowstorm. Which leads to a horrific tragedy. Meanwhile, the sister earlier mentioned, tech inventor Gemma (Allison Williams), is prepping her newest invention to show the toy company’s prickly prez, David (Ronny Chieng). It’s a life-size (for a preteen) human-looking doll dubbed M3gan ( Model 3 Generative Android). The unveiling is a disaster, so she’s tasked with making the current furry toy cheaper to produce until…she gets a fateful call. Gemma’s now the guardian of Cady who survived the crash that claimed both her parents. Unfortunately, the two just aren’t “bonding” until Cady sparks up when Gemma shows her an old robot she keeps in the garage. Cue the light bulb above Gemma’s head. In secret, after hours at her work lab, she and her team complete the repairs on M3gan. Soon Cady is introduced to the “project” and the toy “bonds” with the child in order to fulfill its main function: protect Cady. All’s going well until several odd disappearances and accidents begin popping up in the area. Could M3gan’s advanced programming include murder?

Williams shines in a modern female spin on the Dr. Frankenstein persona. Her Gemma has the best of intentions which indeed “pave the road to Hell”. Facing pressure at work, she’s thrust into parenthood and is terribly ill-prepared. The toy’s a quick fix, but it also bonds her to the new daughter in unexpected ways, developing real empathy. With this role following her great turn in GET OUT, Williams could be part of a new era of “scream queens”. She’s got a good rapport with McGraw, who ably handles Cady’s emotional shifts, going from a grief “numbness” to her euphoria over her new pal to an obsessive mania when Cady tries to become the defender of the bot. Chieng scores some solid laughs as the profit-minded big boss with a really short fuse and little time for considering the consequences of what he’s sending out into the world. And praise must be given to the people that bring the title character to life. Annie Donald gives M3gan an interesting style of movement, opting for brisk fluid moves with any mechanical stiffness, even making her rampages into aggressive dance steps and motions. Jenna Davis supplies her calm, sing-song-type voice which helps makes M3gan’s “descent’ more disturbing as she tosses off an oddly cheerful threat. And all this works due to the tech artists who give real expression to the vinyl-like doll’s head with those expanded glowing eyes.

Director Gerald Johnstone smoothly steers the story through bits of satire and into moments of real suspense. And much of the comedic beats from screenwriters Akela Cooper and James Wan do land, especially in their swipes at marketing with TV ads that seem right from SNL. Unfortunately, many of the characters feel a bit cliche such as a nasty neighbor who feels out of place on Gemma’s upscale block (she’s a modern Mrs. Kravitz from TV’s “Bewitched” with a vicious pet and a “Karen attitude”), and a school bully straight outta’ “juvie”. The sequence with the latter had real terror potential, but the filmmakers seemed to back off in order to hang on to the “PG-13” rating (it’s rumored that several reshoots were needed to keep the flick away from an “R”). This may be a problem for the hordes of horror fanatics who also may be put off by the “slow burn” of the set-up. Several awkward family dynamics are presented before the doll goes “wonky”. Luckily some interesting ideas involving connected tech liven up the action-packed finale. It all makes for a fairly good modern cautionary fable about keeping off “the screens’ and making human connections rather than bonding with algorithms. By that fiery finale, most viewers will be happy that they didn’t look under the tree a couple of weeks ago to see those yellow glowing orbs from the face of M3gan.

3 Out of 4

M3GAN is now playing in theatres everywhere

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