Blu-ray Review: M3GAN – “What the Child’s Play remake should and could have been”

Huge horror hit M3GAN is released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on the 17th of April. Having very much already enjoyed the theatrical cut of the film, we were looking forward to exploring the Blu-ray which, as well as bonus features, also includes an Unseen version of the film promising “MORE BLOOD, MORE VIOLENCE & MORE M3GAN”!

Alison Williams (Get Out) plays Gemma, a techy toy-collecting and building nerd, who following the death of her sister finds herself the guardian of her little niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House). Gemma may be unequipped to be a mum but she is very equipped to design and build Cady an android companion toy, M3GAN – Model 3 Girl ANdroid. 

As soon as Gemma’s toy company boss, a gloriously greedy performance from Crazy Rich Asians’ Ronny Chieng, sees M3GAN he sees dollar signs so M3GAN’s learning capacity and abilities to protect Cady are ramped up and Gemma and her team of engineers, in Jurassic Park parlance, are so concerned with whether they could, that they don’t stop to consider whether they should. It also doesn’t help that, in the race to meet the launch date, they all forget to put any violence inhibitors on M3GAN, so she is not only fiercely protective of her child charge but is also equipped and totally happy to kill to keep her safe. 

M3GAN is what the Child’s Play remake should and could have been if it had been more concerned with being good than making a quick buck off of recognisable IP. The pint-sized protector is lethal but also, importantly, likeable from her very inception. Within the film and outside of it, M3GAN is a great character who, yes, is a murderous villain, but, is a murderous villain we get a kick out of seeing villainously murder. She’s not crazy, she’s just looking out for Cady, and when an audience will cheer for your baddie when they straight up murder a dog AND another child – you’ve done something right.

For the entire film, you’ll know exactly what’s coming next, but, thanks to a great script from Akela Cooper (Malignant) and assured direction from the helmer of the excellent Housebound, Gerard Johnstone, the ride is still a lot of fun and we go along with all of it happily eating up all the genuinely chilling and iconic moments M3GAN constantly serves.

The Unseen Version:

The Unseen Version of the film is the version that should have been in the cinema. The extra carnage M3GAN inflicts, thanks to three kills with additional gore shots and one having a previously only pulled appendage now entirely ripped off, adds even more grand guignol fun and up the actual horror level that felt a tad tame before.

The additional M3GAN stuff is also an excellent addition. We didn’t notice extra shots or scenes of M3GAN, and there isn’t an extra or commentary track that highlights all the differences and additions, but the deadly dolly now certainly has a fouler mouth! Her effing and jeffing comes into play a few times in the finale and definitely adds to how scary, serious and nasty she has become, with one line evoking that chilling line of Chucky’s when he finally comes to life in Child’s Play.

Extras:

The additional threat, horror and character moments in the Unseen Version are enough to boost the film half a star, but what of the disc presentation and bonus material? The video and audio is perfect and the lively Dolby Atmos track gave our surround sound a good opportunity to stretch its legs. A typical templated Universal menu system is as disappointing as ever and, as always, left us longing for the early 00s animated and exciting menus of old, but the extras are fairly decent.

As noted, the lack of a commentary feels like a miss, as we would love to hear Cooper and Johnstone talk us through the film, but the three short featurettes have a decent amount of talent access with Johnstone featured and superstar producer James Wan even swinging by.

‘A New Vision of Horror’ details the evolution of the film, which stemmed from Wan’s wanting to make a full-blooded killer doll movie after making his name with ones that never actually moved (Dead Silence and Annabelle), while ‘Bringing Life to M3GAN’ takes you through the combo of animatronics, puppets, and actor utilised to make M3GAN as real as possible. The final Making Of is ‘Getting Hacked’, another short behind-the-scenes, focussing on how the film’s stunts and gory deaths were pulled off.

The extras package is a bit on the shallow side and the lack of a commentary is glaring, but what there is is actually quite detailed and insightful for a studio kit, plus the additional cut of the film – that is even better than the theatrical version – not only makes up for it, but also makes the film even more enjoyable.

Disc 

Film 

M3GAN is released digitally and on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on the 17th of April.