M3GAN 2.0 is a sequel science fiction horror directed by Gerard Johnstone, who also wrote the screenplay. It is co-produced by horror directors James Wan and Jason Blum. Johnson developed the story with Akela Cooper. Both worked on the previous movie.
Two years after the original M3GAN (Amie Donald; Jenna Davis) incident, Gemma (Allison Williams) has become a best-selling author, but her robotics company is struggling. She has been working with Christian (Aristotle Athari), an anti-AI activist. She is approached by Federal Agent Sattler (Timm Sharp), who suspects she is behind the weaponized AI robot, AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), going rogue. As AMELIA gets increasingly deadly, Gemma is forced to reboot M3GAN, even though she could pose a threat to Gemma’s niece Cady (Violet McGraw).
I know the original director, producer, and writers returned. It makes me wonder, did they watch the original film? Did this one or the previous get edited in post-production? Was the first movie a fluke? Why am I asking these seemingly mean-spirited questions? Because this sequel seems to be intentionally trying to ruin the reputation of its predecessor.
To be honest, I do not blame the actors. They all tried their best. Williams returns to the roll fine, as does McGraw. Sakhno did a fantastic job AS AMELIA, the new killer robot. The two of them and the rest of the cast were the few bright spots in this cringey sequel.
They went wrong by buying into the social media craze. Social media is not real life, but when they saw fans doing M3GAN’s dance from the first film and people dressing as her from Halloween, the filmmakers thought they should try to redeem M3GAN. That might have worked if they had waited for the film’s climax or the third film.
Instead, they tried to do some lazy writing by ignoring that M3GAN killed three people, a child, and a dog. Dismissing it as “early” and stating that it should not be defined by its worst moments. The robot is a killer. It does not work that way, and I think the audience felt the same way. It came off as contrived and boring, despite the forced action sequence.
If they wanted to rush M3GAN’s arc, they should have made it where it was a backup program that included an ethics program. That would have made more sense. The film also tries to shove a bunch of AI morality from both a pro-AI and an anti-AI perspective. They did it very amateurishly, making it feel forced.
Bottom line, M3GAN 2.0 was a cringeworthy sequel that forgot what made its predecessor feel so interesting.
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Strong foul language, Bloody violence, Crude humor
FAVORITE QUOTE: It’s a quantum-encrypted file, which means it takes time to unlock, and your incessant interruptions aren’t making the process go any faster.
Check out the trailer below:
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