Tag Archives: Gerard Johnstone

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M3GAN 2.0

by Hope Madden

Sometimes a fun horror movie needs to become a fun action movie if you really hope to have a franchise. At least, a PG13 franchise. That’s clearly Gerard Johnstone’s thinking with M3GAN 2.0

Co-writing this time with M3GAN scribes Akela Cooper and James Wan, Johnstone imagines a future where the tech that fueled a bloodthirsty doll has been stolen and put to use as a weapon called Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno).

Amelia sets her murderous sights on the architect of her AI, Gemma (Allison Williams)—which, in turn, puts young Cady (Violet McGraw) in peril. Guess it’s time to dust off last year’s model.

So, in the same way that the old T-800 helped John and Sarah Connor save the world from Terminator 2, M3GAN (Jenna Davis voice, Amie Donald body) has to help humanity survive Amelia.

Johnstone and team do abandon the horror in favor of action, but the comic tone remains, thankfully. Even before we’re graced with M3GAN’s gallows wit, Johnstone’s fellow Kiwi and comedic treasure Jemaine Clement joins the cast as a billionaire philanthro-capitalist and easy mark.

Clement is a hoot, and soon enough, the dark wit that made M3GAN so much fun is back, and secured safely in the body of a child’s toy. But if they really are going to do battle with hew new model, upgrades will be needed.

Plenty of self-aware dialog inches the film more clearly toward comedy than the original, which wore its own dark humor with a little more nuance. 2.0 is definitely going for laughs alongside its thrills, helping to elevate scenes burdened with exposition.

The plot gets convoluted and silly, the message about AI holds no water at all, and Amelia’s true purpose is always beside the point, never driving the narrative. And abandoning horror entirely is a bit of a disappointment.

Still, M3GAN 2.0 delivers some summer fun.

Halloween Countdown

Day 14: Housebound

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Housebound (2014)

You need to see Housebound.

Funny and scary, smartly written and confidently directed as to take full advantage of both, this is a film that makes few missteps and thoroughly entertains from beginning to end.

Gerard Johnstone writes and directs, though his brightest accomplishment may be casting because Morgana O’Reilly’s unflinching performance holds every moment of nuttiness together with brilliance.

O’Reilly plays Kylie, a bit of a bad seed who’s been remanded to her mother’s custody for 8 months of house arrest after a recent spate of bad luck involving an ATM and a boyfriend who’s not too accurate with a sledge hammer.

Unfortunately, the old homestead, it seems, is haunted. Almost against her will, she, her hilariously chatty mum (Rima Te Wiata) and her deeply endearing probation officer (Glen-Paul Waru) try to puzzle out the murder mystery at the heart of the haunting. Lunacy follows.

Kylie’s disdain for every single person and event in this film is beautifully animated – O’Reilly constantly looks as if she’s just smelled something foul. But her expressions also share those fleeting moments of regret that make her utterly, admirably human.

Good horror comedies are hard to come by, but Johnstone manages the tonal shifts magnificently. You’re nervous, you’re scared, you’re laughing, you’re hiding your face, you’re screaming – sometimes all at once. And everything leads up to a third act that couldn’t deliver better.

The film is so much fun it all but begs to be seen with a group.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT1KcYiPb4I