The 2023 movie year started off with a bang, the original M3GAN came out of nowhere with a story so left of field it stuck with so many of us and made waves across social media. An AI-powered robot that would do anything to complete its prime directive of keeping her person safe, even if that meant lopping off heads. M3GAN went about her way singing, dancing and spouting one-liners that had the cinema roaring with laughter one minute and wincing the next. She is the perfect Gen Z Chucky…
M3GAN 2.0 takes place two years after the original. Gemma (Allison Williams) is making strides forward, using her time in the spotlight to raise awareness of the dangers of technology to our children. Somehow avoiding jail time over her involvement in releasing a murderous robot on the world Gemma has written books and started a foundation that aims to push policies to make the digital space and the increased use of AI safer for humanity. Cady (Violet McGraw) has grown into a self-sufficient teen, somewhat sidelined by Gemma’s in her pursuit of “doing the right thing” but it has helped her be more resilient. She has a brilliant mind and seems to be following in her aunt’s footsteps.
M3GAN’s rampage didn’t go unnoticed and as is the case with any new technology the government has perverted it into a weapon. Born from M3GAN’s stolen designs a new AI humanoid has been created but with a different consciousness and upgraded features, called AMELIA. She goes rogue during her first mission breaking all contact with her creators, it is soon discovered AMELIA (Avanna Sakhno) is murdering anyone involved in her creation. Of course, the government comes to Gemma for help to build another robot and stop the rogue robot from reuniting itself with the original AI and destroying all of humanity.
M3GAN has been listening and watching all along having uploaded herself to Gemma and Cady’s smart home, the only way for Gemma to keep Cady and by proxy everyone safe now is to rebuild M3GAN. She gets her wish and is rebuilt into a stronger, faster and taller body ready to take on anything thrown at her. That is, once she can prove her intentions and help Gemma out in probably some of the best moments of the film.
Gerard Johnson is back at the helm and this time taking on the story for the sequel. In what could be a perfect setup for some fembot action unleashing M3GAN once again on an unsuspecting public the stories pivot from horror to a more watered down attempt at an action comedy really taking the sting out of everything that made the original great.
Thankfully M3GAN at least is as sassy and unapologetic as ever. Her constant one liners and scathing verbal attacks on those around her are a constant source of laughter throughout but her unhinged and emotionless drive to protect is gone. Reducing our favourite murderbot to a one dimensional shell of her former self and not at all frightening. Sakhno’s angular features, big eyes and empty death stares helps AMELIA take on the murderous role and is thankfully at least unnerving in her actions but far from the horror icon M3GAN had become.
M3GAN 2.0 stumbles through its plot and while it misses the highs of the original it is at least a bit of fun. Gone are the horror moments replaced with a more campy attempt at an action comedy designed to be seen by a wider audience, probably thanks to M3GAN’s dance from the original blowing up on social media. The story feels a little hollow and misses the undertones from the original while trying to tackle themes of technology’s relentless march forward and the implications it can have for society as a whole.
M3GAN 2.0 is a step in a different direction from the original, it knows exactly the campy mess it is trying to be and if you do too it will at least be a bit of fun.
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