THE STORY – Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous rampage, its creator, Gemma, has become an advocate for government oversight of AI. Unbeknownst to her, a defense contractor has created a military-grade weapon known as Amelia, the ultimate infiltration spy. However, as Amelia’s self-awareness increases, it becomes less interested in taking orders. Hoping to stop Amelia, Gemma decides to resurrect M3GAN, making it faster, stronger, and more lethal.
THE CAST – Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari & Jemaine Clement
THE TEAM – Gerard Johnstone (Director/Writer) & Akela Cooper (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 120 Minutes
No one had any expectations for “M3GAN” when it was released in the halcyon days of January 2023, other than the ones they usually have for the first horror release of the calendar year, which is usually a disposable piece of trash. But unlike most other films released in the January “dumping ground,” “M3GAN“ was in on the joke. Everyone involved knew exactly what the screenplay was and leaned into it with everything they had, turning the film into the best kind of surprise. The all-out marketing blitz ensured that the film had oodles of fans even before its release, but the response to the film when it came out was so deafening that by the end of the year, a sequel was announced. And now, two years later, everyone’s favorite killer (robot) doll is back, with a yassified body, a bigger budget, and a prime Summer release date. But could lightning in a bottle possibly strike twice? With all the hype launching M3GAN to internet icon status, how would the team behind the first film – returning director Gerard Johnstone and screenwriter Akela Cooper (who shares “Story by“ credit with Johnstone), stars Allison Williams and Violet McGraw, and of course the actresses behind M3GAN herself, voice Jenna Davis and body Amie Donald – cope with the increased scrutiny? When the pleasures of the original were so organic, so untouched by public opinion, how could a sequel with this much expectation deliver on those same pleasures without feeling like a retread? As it turns out, the answer is very simple: Take inspiration from the greatest sequel director of all time, James Cameron. Yes, “M3GAN 2.0“ is the “T2“ to the original’s “The Terminator”. Not only does it change genres (ever so slightly) from something close to horror to something much closer to action, it turns the original’s villain into its own hero. It also just so happens to be as good as the first film and might even be better.
In the time that has passed since the first film, Gemma (Williams) has become a leading advocate for oversight of A.I., working with top techno-ethicist Christian (Aristotle Athari) to get the government to establish guidelines surrounding the ethical handling of artificial intelligence. She’s tried to impart her own views on her niece, Cady (McGraw), enforcing time away from screens and signing her up for aikido classes for self-defense, although Cady would prefer to follow in her aunt’s STEM footsteps. When a team of FBI agents infiltrates their home, Gemma learns not only that M3GAN’s technology was stolen to create a super-soldier known as Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), which has gone rogue and killed everyone involved in her creation but that M3GAN’s consciousness has been keeping an eye on her and Cady. That last part ends up being a good thing since having M3GAN on their side may be the only chance Gemma and Cady have of surviving Amelia. But can Gemma and Cady ever trust M3GAN again, even though she seems to have changed? Just how much has her code evolved over the past two years?
Horror villains always end up becoming the pseudo-heroes of their franchises – you go to a “Nightmare on Elm Street“sequel to laugh with Freddy Krueger as he kills kids in their dreams or to a “Halloween“ sequel to watch Michael Myers silently stalk people, not for the people getting filleted by their knives – so it makes sense that Johnstone and Cooper would take the “T2“ route for M3GAN, especially since she was basically the Terminator already anyway. Sakhno is a perfect upgraded version, giving Robert Patrick’s T-1000 a run for its money in the bad-ass robot assassin stakes with her dead-eyed stare and just-too-stiff-to-be-human movement. She’s not used for horror, though, just as the unstoppable force that will push M3GAN’s immovable object to the brink. The fights between the two robots have a kinetic sense of style that makes up for the film’s uncertain pacing elsewhere, with cinematographer Toby Oliver moving the camera in perfect sync with the bodies as they’re flung back and forth. It’s not the most innovative action, but it’s exciting to watch. The film’s overall tone is one of genuinely wanting to entertain the audience, and it succeeds at that almost effortlessly.
Going in this direction also allows the film to dig deeper into the question of artificial intelligence and society’s increasing dependence on technology, the source of much of the first film’s surprisingly funny satire. Given how much A.I. has advanced even in the two years since the first film opened, there’s a lot for Johnstone to chew on for the sequel, and he goes all in. Gemma’s turnaround on artificial intelligence allows for some hilariously on-point lines like, “You wouldn’t give your kids cocaine, so why would you give them a phone?“ while she and her team (the returning Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps) still believe in the ability of technology to better our lives in other ways, like an exoskeletal suit that provides mobility and strength to damaged bodies. But as the film eventually points out, every major technological advance humanity has made has also brought us one step closer to our destruction – fire begat guns and bombs, planes begat drones, M3GAN begat Amelia – so how could they be so naïve that someone wouldn’t take their helpful technology and use it to make a weapon? The film doesn’t exactly dive deep into the question, but it does genuinely engage with it while never lecturing the audience.
As much as “M3GAN“ took its themes seriously, no one went to see it for nuanced philosophical arguments about our increasing dependence on technology and how artificial intelligence has already started running our lives (what are the algorithms that determine our feeds if not artificially intelligent about what we like to see?), they went to see the living doll beat the living daylights out of people. “MEGAN 2.0“ doubles down on that aspect, although in a notably different way from the original. M3GAN’s kills were the original film’s only real claim to the horror genre outside of the most basic aspects of its premise, and the sequel ditches that genre all but entirely. This allows Johnstone to go hog wild with the action setpieces, putting the stunt performers through their paces in some cleverly choreographed robot-on-robot fights. He pushes the limits of his bigger (but hardly blockbuster-sized) budget past its breaking point with two big sequences in the film’s final third that have more obvious visual effects work than the rest of the film. Considering the film’s all-around humorous, winking tone, though, these scenes come across as a message to the audience not to worry, that the filmmakers are also laughing at how ridiculous this all is.
That is, of course, a large part of why “M3GAN“ worked as well as it did, and it’s also a large part of why the sequel works just as well. The first film leaned into horror tropes to wring as much laughter as possible out of its ridiculous premise, and without those genre trappings to fall back on, “M3GAN 2.0“ can just be funny whenever and however it wants, which is quite often and in just about every way imaginable. Johnstone still knows how to play clichéd moments for maximum enjoyment, but he’s also written a cavalcade of zingers for M3GAN and Gemma that will give this film just as much of an online presence as the first film enjoyed. Johnstone also knows how to use editing to amplify the comedy of specific moments, ensuring that every opportunity for laughter rises to the occasion.
As funny as the film is, it’s not without genuine heart. Once again, Williams is the film’s secret weapon, taking Gemma’s character arc just seriously enough for the emotion to land without shifting the movie off its too-cool-for-school axis. McGraw is given much less to work with, playing an ordinary sullen teenager for the most part, but is called upon to deliver one of the film’s most important lines and does so with enough conviction that one of the screenplay’s more ridiculous moments actually ends up becoming one of its most striking. In the current moment, when technology has essentially programmed us to expect everything to be catered to our every whim at every moment of every day, who would have guessed that a robot doll with a murderous(ly protective) streak could show us the way to break free from that and do what’s right, even if it hurts us in the process? Who would have thought an android could teach us something vital about being human and also serve dance moves in a cunty little bob? That’s the magic of M3GAN, and somehow, “M3GAN 2.0“ manages to capture her lightning in a bottle once again.
