M3GAN 2.0

Director: Gerard Johnstone
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Aimee Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari, Jemaine Clement, Timm Sharp
Running Time: 120 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)   

When the smart, wickedly funny horror satire M3GAN was released in 2022, the film was already a bona fide hit before a single person actually saw it. Much of this had to do with some clever viral marketing that featured the title android awkwardly dancing as she slaughtered unsuspecting victims. With her vacant eyes, creepily cherubic facial expressions, Jenna Davis's incredible voice work and Aimee Donald's physicality, she came across as a bizarre hybrid of Chucky and an American Girl doll. But director Gerard Johnstone still had to make it all work, which he did, resulting in a huge creative and commercial success for Blumhouse.

If the original concept's appeal rested on simplicity and how relatable the robot seemed in an era where technology parents kids, Johnstone knew not to take things too seriously, preparing us for even crazier, more hilarious hijinx in M3GAN 2.0. But rather than keeping the focus narrow, this aims higher, with a plot entirely focused on cyber-terrorism and the government's regulation of AI. And in doing that he delivers a sequel that bares little resemblance to its predecessor, perplexing audiences in the process. Not content to play it safe and merely repeat story beats from the original, he instead resurrects the iconic doll for purposes other than causing additional death and destruction. 

Two years after M3GAN's rampage, Gemma (Allison Williams) is now an author advocating for the regulation of AI and testing a new robotic exoskeleton with cybersecurity expert Christian (Aristotle Athari) and former team members Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Tess (Jen Van Epps). Her work catches the interest of greedy, eccentric tech billionaire Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement, parodying Elon Musk), who Gemma refuses a lucrative offer to work for on moral grounds.  

Operating out of her smart home basement, Gemma has little time to spend with now 12-year-old niece Cady (Violet McGraw), who's handled the trauma of M3GAN's violent betrayal by taking up martial arts and computer science. But everything changes when a secret branch of the Pentagon headed by U.S. Army Colonel Sattler (Timm Sharp) develops AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), a high functioning android copied from M3GAN's original design. After unexpectedly escaping, the newly self-aware machine goes on a killing spree and only one robot can stop her. With a backup of M3GAN's mind stored, Gemma must now decide whether an upgraded version can be trusted to thwart an imminent AI takeover. 

This second chapter shouldn't be duplicating the first film's blueprint since these characters are in an entirely different headspace two years later. Now, Cady's older and Gemma's attempts to warn the public of technology's dangers has fallen on deaf ears, causing a fracture in their relationship. And with few guardrails regulating the abuse of AI, the M3GAN disaster has caused government agencies to realize the potential of androids as controlled weapons, pouring gasoline on a capitalistic climate clamoring for its use. 

Enter AMELIA, a ruthless cyborg assassin that not only makes M3GAN look like a Cabbage Patch Kid, but plows through its victims in an effort to reach the secluded Motherboard, which grants access to any and all technology. It can all really be traced back to Gemma's inability to grasp the dangerous magnitude of her initial creation until it was too late, unintentionally giving those in more powerful positions the green light to abuse it. And while her fear and anxiety over rebuilding M3GAN is justified, she also knows the robot's actions weren't the result of free will, but her own programming mistakes.

After a big buildup, M3GAN returns taller, stronger and more dangerous than before. Thankfully though, she still possesses the same comedic timing, dry humor and killer dance moves. One of her best scenes involves a heart-to-heart with Cady, during which she expresses what appears to be genuine remorse and regret for her previous actions. Now with the forgiveness and trust of her best friend, she'll have the opportunity to step up and help. And not just because she's programmed to.   

An inevitable consequence of such a busy plot is that Williams lacks the big acting moments she had in the first film where she was carrying a story that revolved around about parental responsibility and guilt. There's still a bit of that here, but it's mainly action oriented as Gemma reluctantly leads the other characters in a quest to prevent impending doom. Violet McGraw gives this sequel its soul as a maturing Cady struggles to process her conflicted feelings toward M3GAN while Ukranian actress (and Elizabeth Olsen lookalike) Sakhno plays the Terminator-like AMELIA to chilling, wide eyed perfection. 

The film's final act set within a secret guarded facility may be an ambitious mess full of twists and turns, but it's also deliriously entertaining, especially as we approach the climactic showdown between M3GAN and AMELIA. And though there's still plenty of humor and mayhem in this installment, it's also far larger in scope, more closely echoing sci-fi actioners like TRON: Legacy or Blade Runner 2049 than Child's Play. 

Viewed through this prism, it's not surprising audiences haven't respond favorably to such a jarring departure from the original. But aside from an admittedly convoluted plot and overlong run time, Johnstone skillfully navigates familiar material that's been beaten into the ground by similarly themed thrillers of late. While it may have suffered a quick and undeserved box office death, there's reason to hope this doesn't spell the end of M3GAN, who proves she still has more than a few lives left.