REVIEW: “M3GAN” (2023)

January 6, 2023 by Keith Garlington

Call her Chucky for a new era. M3GAN (pronounced “Megan” and short for Model 3 Generative Android) is a lifelike doll that uses cutting edge artificial intelligence. Much like the creepy My Buddy doll from the “Child’s Play” movies, M3GAN has been developed and programmed to be a child’s best friend. But unlike My Buddy, M3GAN is not quite ready for mass production which becomes abundantly clear after a prototype goes homicidal.

And that’s pretty much the gist of “M3GAN”, the new horror film from producers Jason Blum and James Wan. It’s directed by Gerard Johnstone and written for the screen by Akela Cooper (“Malignant”). The story (conceived by Cooper and Wan) doesn’t pack much in terms of twists. It’s pretty straightforward which works both for it and against it. But few people going to see “M3GAN” will be worried about the intricacies of the story. They’re there to see a killer robot doll go berserk, and they’ll get their money’s worth…sort of.

Allison Williams plays Gemma, a roboticist at a high-tech toy company called Funki. She’s the inventor of the eponymous state-of-the-art doll which she has been working on with her two assistants (Jen Van Epps and Brian Jordan Alvarez) behind closed doors and without the okay from her high-strung boss, David (a hilariously over-the-top Ronny Chieng – an early Razzie frontrunner).

**Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures**

One day the workaholic Gemma gets hit with some tragic news. Her sister and brother-in-law have been killed in a horrific car accident, and she’s been given custody of their only daughter, Cady (Violet McGraw). The two have a hard time connecting at first as Gemma knows nothing about being a mother, and Cady tries to deal with the trauma of losing parents.

To help out, Gemma introduces Cady to her M3GAN prototype (played physically by Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) and it doesn’t take long for the two to connect. As M3GAN learns and adapts to her new best friend, she not only becomes a security blanket for Cady, but she begins to fill some of the parental duties for Gemma. Cady’s growing attachment and Gemma’s dependence on M3GAN lead to some pretty obvious conflicts. But things really go south once M3GAN becomes self-aware and takes her role as Cady’s protector to a deadly extreme.

The film’s messages throughout couldn’t be more obvious, specifically in its examination of modern day parenting and our over-reliance on technology. Those are worthwhile subjects, and I wish the movie had dug deeper into them. But the filmmakers are far more interested in delivering straight-up genre entertainment which “M3GAN” (after a surprisingly languid start) finally begins to deliver. But even then it sputters in places, only really kicking into gear in the final 15 minutes.

Surprisingly “M3GAN” isn’t the slightest bit scary, nor is there an ounce of suspense. You won’t find any big twists or surprises, so you pretty much know where the story is going from the start. On the flip-side, there are a handful of good laughs (some intentional; others unintentional) that lighten things up a bit. I can’t help but think that “M3GAN” would have potentially made for a pretty good black comedy, but the movie (understandably) never commits itself to it.

While the story is fairly light and predictable and the characters all march to a pretty familiar beat, those aren’t what hold the movie back. The biggest frustration is with how watered down the film feels. I get going for a PG-13 rating in hopes of getting a bigger audience and earning more money. But “M3GAN” is surprisingly tame and the movie suffers as a result. The kills are barely shown and the bloodshed is at a minimum. With a premise this bonkers I really wanted them to go for it. Instead they chose to play it safe.

Yet despite those complaints, there is some fun to be had with “M3GAN”. It may not do anything all that fresh, and it’s hardly anything revolutionary. Still, if you’re a horror fan and you just want some light and easy entertainment, this probably has you covered. But me, in between the occasional giggle I found myself counting the missed opportunities and hoping they would really let loose. Sadly, they never did. “M3GAN” opens in theaters today (January 6th).

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

First Glance: “Renfield”

January 5, 2023 by Keith Garlington

Boy here’s a weird one. Today Universal Pictures dropped the first trailer for their upcoming action horror comedy “Renfield”. It comes from director Chris McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley and is based on a character that first appeared in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula”. The trailer looks insanely wacky (and I say that as a compliment). And if you needed another reason to be excited – Dracula is played by none other than Nicolas Cage. Like I said….wacky.

The title character, Renfield, is played by Nicholas Hoult. He’s the manservant of the one and only Count Dracula, but he’s ready to find a new life all his own. But it’s not so easy when you have vampiric powers and Dracula himself breathing down your neck. The film also stars Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Bess Rous. This looks goofy beyond measure, and that’s exactly what I hope it turns out to be.

“Renfield” hits theaters April 14th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

New on Home Video: “Mission in Action” Trilogy

January 5, 2023 by Keith Garlington

Those of us who grew up on the movies of the 1980s probably remember the wave of Vietnam War related films. Some were more serious minded like “Platoon”, “Full Metal Jacket”, and “Hamburger Hill”. Others were action-packed B-movies that found a home in VHS rental stores. Somewhere in between the two where Chuck Norris’ three “Missing in Action” films. Now thanks to Kino Lorber, fans can own the complete trilogy on Blu-ray later this month.

This new Blu-ray box set of the “Missing in Action” trilogy hits shelves January 17, 2023. See below for a full synopsis and breakdown of the bonus features.

“Missing in Action”

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Year: 1984

Rating: R

Runtime: 101 Minutes

Director: Joseph Zito

Starring: Chuck Norris, M. Emmit Walsh, Lenore Kasdorf, David Tress, James Hong, Ernie Ortega, E. Erich Anderson, Pierrino Mascarino, Joseph Carberry, Bella Flores, Willie Williams, Jean-Claude Van Damme (uncredited).

Missing in Action (1984) – American servicemen are still being held captive in Vietnam—and it’s up to one man to bring them home in this blistering, fast-paced action/adventure. Following a daring escape from a Vietnamese POW camp, Special Forces Colonel James Braddock (Norris) is on a mission to locate and save remaining MIAs. Aided by a beautiful State Department official (Lenore Kasdorf, L.A. Bounty) and a former Army buddy (M. Emmet Walsh, Blood Simple), Braddock amasses top-secret information and state-of-the-art weaponry. Now this one-man army is prepared to blast his way into Vietnam…but will he be able to blast his way back out? Directed by Joseph Zito (Invasion U.S.A.) and featuring James Hong (The Perfect Weapon) and David Tress (Stone Cold).

“Missing in Action 2: The Beginning “

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Year: 1985

Rating: R

Runtime: 95 Minutes

Director: Lance Hool

Starring: Chuck Norris, Soon-Tek Oh, Steven Williams, Bennett Ohta, Cosie Costa, John Michael Terry, Christopher Carey, John Wesley, David Chung, Professor Toru Tanaka, Dean Raphael Ferrandini, Pierre Issot, Mischa Hausserman

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) – Chuck Norris returns as Colonel James Braddock in this intense, action-packed prequel to the original runaway hit. Captured during a daring mid-air rescue operation, Braddock and his men are imprisoned by the insane Colonel Yin (Soon-Tek Oh, Good Guys Wear Black), who stops at nothing to break their spirits. Held captive in a godforsaken jungle, death seems the only escape. But like a cunning tiger waiting for the right time to pounce on his prey, Braddock seizes the opportunity to spring into action…and becomes a one-man fighting machine dead-set on freeing his men at any cost. Directed by Lance Hool (Steel Dawn) and featuring Steven Williams (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) and Professor Toru Tanaka (Catch the Heat).

“Braddock: Missing in Action 3”

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Year: 1988

Rating: R

Runtime: 103 Minutes

Director: Aaron Norris

Starring: Chuck Norris, Aki Aleong, Roland Harrah III, Yehuda Efroni, Floyd Levine, Miki Kim, Ron Barker, Jack Rader, Keith David

Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) – When Colonel James Braddock (Norris) is told that his wife and 12-year-old son are still alive in Communist Vietnam, he mounts a one-man assault to free them. Armed with the latest high-tech firepower, Braddock fights his way into the heart of the country and ends up battling his way out with several dozen abused children in tow. Struggling to protect the kids while outmaneuvering the sadistic Vietnamese officer General Quoc (Aki Aleong, V: The Series), Braddock ignites the jungles in a blazing race for freedom. This is the final chapter in the slam-bang Missing in Action trilogy, featuring Keith David (They Live) and directed by Chuck’s stunt coordinator and brother, Aaron Norris (Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection).

Bonus Features

Newly Remastered in 4K and 2K | Audio Commentary for MISSING IN ACTION by Director Joseph Zito, Moderated by Filmmaker Michael Felsher | Interview with MISSING IN ACTION Screenwriter James Bruner| NEW Audio Commentary for MISSING ACTION 2 by Director Lance Hool, Moderated by Historian/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer | NEW Audio Commentary for BRADDOCK: MISSING IN ACTION III by Action Film Historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema | Theatrical Trailers for all Three MISSING IN ACTION Films | Optional English Subtitles

First Glance: “Evil Dead Rise”

January 4, 2023 by Keith Garlington

1981’s “The Evil Dead” remains one of my favorite horror films of all-time. Not only do I love the movie and find it a legitimately creepy horror flick, but I also love the story behind it and how it was made. And it introduced the world to Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. After three movies and one standalone 2013 “remake”, the franchise is getting a new installment called “Evil Dead Rise”. Produced by Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, the film certainly has the look and chill of past entries.

The new trailer for “Evil Dead Rise” is out and gleefully teases a grisly, blood-drenched horror romp that looks to be exactly what fans will be looking for. Written and directed by Lee Cronin, the story follows the reunion of two sisters who discover a mysterious book that unleashes a malevolent possessing spirit. Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, and Nell Fisher star in a feature that’s clearly not for the squeamish. Me? I’ll be there day one.

“Evil Dead Rise” hits theaters April 21st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

REVIEW: “The Old Way” (2023)

January 4, 2023 by Keith Garlington

In this wild and crazy “Age of Cage” (a phrase borrowed from the title of a terrific book from Keith Phipps – you should read it), there isn’t an idea, a style, or a genre that the 58-year-old nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola won’t try. The prolific Nicolas Cage has become something of a cultural phenomenon and seems to have fully embraced his cult status as evident by last year’s feature length self-parody “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”.

Cage shows no signs of slowing down. He has six movies in the works including his latest, “The Old Way”. It’s a Western that sees Cage playing a retired gunslinger whose past sins come back to haunt him. This modestly budgeted but handsomely shot genre flick comes from director and producer Brett Donowho who seems well studied on the classic Western form. Perhaps a little too studied at times, as his film leans pretty heavy on the countless movie and television Westerns that came before it.

This comes through most in the script penned by Carl W. Lucas. His age-old tale of revenge is chock full of well-worn genre tropes, and anyone who is the slightest bit familiar with classic Westerns will know exactly where “The Old Way” is going within the first ten minutes. Yet despite its by-the-book story and (at times) storytelling, there’s a certain charm to the film which is mostly due to the performances of Cage and his young co-star Ryan Kiera Armstrong.

In an opening prologue we’re introduced to a notorious hired gun named Colton Briggs (Cage sporting a hilariously bad mustache meant to make him look younger I suppose). When a public hanging goes sideways, Briggs is forced to kill a man in front of his young son. Briggs hops on his horse and rides away while the camera slow zooms in on the face of the seething boy. Of course the most basic understanding of Westerns 101 let’s us know that this is one killing that’s going to have consequences.

Hop ahead to twenty years later. Briggs has shaved off his mustache (good move) and put his gunfighting days behind him. These days he runs a small town mercantile. But the biggest change is that he’s now happily married to his wife Ruth (Kerry Knuppe) and they have a 12-year-old daughter together named Brooke (Armstrong). All seems right for the one-time killer, but of course it’s short lived.

While Briggs and Brooke are in town at their store, back home Ruth is approached by a not-so-mysterious stranger named James McAllister (Noah Le Gros). It turns out he has a score to settle with Briggs (and I bet you can guess what it is). And what better way than to kill the woman he loves. But McCallister and his henchmen (played by Shiloh Fernandez, Clint Howard, and Abraham Benrubi) don’t quite realize what they’ve done. But we do thanks to some comically on-the-button lines like “You boys have woke up the devil.”

After Federal Marshall Jarret (Nick Searcy) informs him that his wife is dead, a quietly simmering Briggs dusts off his old six-shooters and sets out for revenge with young Brooke in tow. While his cold-blooded killer impulses immediately rush to the surface, his fairly new fatherly instincts remain, making for a pretty interesting conflict that Donowho and Lucas have fun exploring. It comes to a head in one particular campfire monologue that has no reason to work. But it’s so much fun, simply by it being Nic Cage delivering it. It’s a weird variable, I know. Yet it’s something he brings that’s uniquely his own.

I love westerns and have grown to appreciate them more as they have become more scarce. This one won’t bag Cage his second Academy Award, but fans of the enigmatic star will have fun with it. The story does some interesting things with the struggle between his character’s cold-blooded instincts and his newfound conscience. And young Armstrong makes for a good sidekick. But don’t expect anything you haven’t seen before. I had a good time with “The Old Way”, but it’ll have a hard time standing out. And Cage’s growing cult status can only carry it so far. “The Old Way” hits theaters January 6th.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

REVIEW: “A Man Called Otto” (2022)

January 3, 2023 by Keith Garlington

Tom Hanks teams with director Marc Forster for “A Man Called Otto”, the second film adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s 2012 novel “A Man Called Ove”. I loved its first big screen treatment from Hannes Holm. It’s a witty dark comedy but with a warm and tender center. That 2015 Swedish movie would go on to receive a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 89th Academy Awards. So Forster is following in some pretty big footsteps.

Hanks plays the titular character, Otto Anderson, a crusty old curmudgeon who we first meet reaming out two young associates at a hardware store. It’s the perfect introduction cranky and perpetually unpleasant 60-year-old Otto. He lives in a modest gated community where he runs things with an iron fist, despite having no real authority. He’s constantly annoyed by the “idiots” in his neighborhood who mostly take his griping with a grain of salt. He also clashes with the reps of a rich land development company who are trying hard to push him and the other residents out.

Adding to his soured view on life, Otto was recently forced to retire from a job he’s been at for 40 years. But what has affected him the most is the recent death of his beloved wife Sonya. Unable to fully cope with her loss, Otto decides to take his own life. Yet despite his determination, he discovers that killing himself is no easy task, in large part thanks to his new neighbors, Marisol (a very good Mariana Treviño), her kind but inept husband (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and their two adorable young daughters, who unknowingly interrupt every attempt he makes.

As you can tell, there’s definitely a black comedy element that I honestly expected to be sanitized in this American version of the story. But Forster and screenwriter David Magee (“Life of Pi”) stay faithful and the movie is better for it. Watching Otto buy rope, call to cancel his utilities, lay visqueen across his floor, and dress up in his best suit one last time is both sad and solemn. But Forster never lets things get too dour. The young and vibrant new family next door routinely inject a timely dose of heart and humor. To Forster’s credit, he does a nice job balancing both elements.

There are several other supporting characters who weave in and out of the movie. Some add warmth, some are there simply to serve Otto’s redemption, and some feel like well-intended but tacked-on attempts at updating the story. The plot-lines work much the same, with some adding good laughs and feel-good moments while others seem thrown in for one effect or another. This is where the movie can come off as a bit uneven.

But it all revolves around Hanks and his effortlessly good performance. The ever likable actor does a good job selling himself as an irritable grouch, even though we know the movie is about him softening up over time. He also has some good chemistry with Treviño who has an inherent sweetness that eventually melts Otto’s stony heart. Hanks sells his transformation too, never getting too schmaltzy or over-the-top with it. The material occasionally handcuffs him (such as his sudden undercooked relationship with one of his wife’s former students), but Hanks keeps things afloat, earning a few chuckles and our empathy along the way.

“The Man Called Otto” doesn’t quite have the edge or the oomph of Holm’s 2015 film, but it has more than enough to win over some audiences. It’s a fairly effective crowdpleaser that admittedly might have caused this old leathery film critic to mist up a time or two. And with the always enjoyable (and bankable) Tom Hanks as its lead, you would figure it should grab some attention. But it is releasing in what has become known as the January movie wasteland, so how it will do is anyone’s guess. “A Man Called Ottot” opens in theaters January 6th.