Hey everybody and welcome back to a brand new review! This time I will be taking a look at the follow up to the break out 2023 horror film, M3GAN, appropriately titled M3GAN 2.0. The original film exceeded many expectations to become a huge money earner for Blumhouse ($181 million globally on a $12 million budget) as well as a surprisingly well received feature that garnered a lot of fans. I myself am a big fan of that first film, as putting aside the amusing memes and tik tok fodder (that famous dance scene that took the world by storm), it was a genuinely good and thoughtful movie about the dangers of using technology as a replacement for human connections. Also served as a solid gateway horror film for younger audiences. Now with this follow up, we have a genre shift going on with the film going bigger and leaning into the campier elements of the original, while also making our title character into a good guy. Was this direction worth taking? Let’s jump right in and see worth seeing M#GAN doing her thing again!
Taking place 2 years after M3GAN’s murderous rampage, we follow her creator, Gemma, and her attempts to advocate for AI regulations on a government level, given what happened with her creation. At the same time she is still trying to maintain a solid relationship with her niece, Cady, which has proven to be easier said than done given the latter’s often rebellious nature. One night though, they are granted an unexpected visit from the FBI who have come to tell them that there exists a highly skilled killer android known as AMELIA that was supposed to carry out government missions, but has now gone rogue and is going after those involved in her creation which means Gemma could be one of her targets. Worried by this new threat, Gemma finds an unexpected source of aid in the form of M3GAN whose consciousness has been stored in Gemma’s house and is willing to do anything to protect Cady even if it means helping Gemma. After much reluctance, Gemma decides to use M3GAN’s help to try and take down AMELIA before it is too late.
When I first heard what the story details for this sequel were going to be, I was very interested as it sounded like a fun way to change things up. Making M3GAN into a good guy and leaning into the action route is very much in line with the Terminator 2 playbook and I was curious to see how far this would go as far as the camp factor, considering the first only had a handful of moments in that vein. Well I can definitely say that if you were hoping that there would be a little bit horror thrown in, you will be sorely disappointed as this is essentially the Blumhouse equivalent of Cars 2, with a spy espionage infused sensibility thrown in for good measure. It is more over the top, more humorous, and more campy than before and for many that will be a turn off. For me though, I had a good time when the film embraced those elements. They are handled with the right amount of absurdity and give the film a tongue in cheek film that doesn’t completely veer away from some of the more satirical elements of the original. I found myself laughing out loud several times as there are some genuinely funny bits whether it’s the characters calling out the craziness of what is going out (albeit in witty ways), them throwing funny comebacks at each other, or just watching M3GAN doing or saying wacky things. These parts prevent the movie from ever getting boring and I did enjoy when things go full James Bond with the mission parts being engaging and fun to watch unfold. This all helps the film be reasonably entertaining on the surface level… which makes it disappointing that I didn’t love it on the whole.
As fun as the proceedings can be at times, the actual plot connecting everything together is so needlessly convoluted that the movie has to constantly stop dead in its tracks just to explain what is going on and what the plan of the bad guys are and it was during these scenes that I just felt checked out with so much exposition being dumped on me, and not in a way that’s particularly interesting. While I’m not opposed to increasing the scale and stakes, it felt like Gerard Johnstone may have gotten a bit overboard when it came to the plotting and as a result, it really hurts the pacing. Doesn’t help that the script is littered with a bunch of twists that either very predictable or don’t carry much in the way of weight. Not only that but the movie isn’t as successful when it comes to exploring its themes. Like the original, it continues to explore the dangers an overreliance on technology can cause, with a heavy focus on AI regulation and whether it should be under everyone’s control. I appreciate the topicality, but the messaging ends up being quite muddled with the film not really knowing if it wants to take a pro or anti AI stance and ends up trying to answer questions it really doesn’t know the answer too. Again, I can admire the attempt at a nuance messaging, it just comes off as Johnstone spouting a bunch of things without really engaging with them in ways that are compelling.
One upside that I think aids the film is the apparent increase in budget. Considering the nature of the story and the success of the original, it makes sense to throw more money (in this case from $12 million to $25 million) and make the most of it which is indeed done here. There’s an increase in the amount of locations being traversed as well as the scale just feeling bigger. There’s also much more of a leaning into the sci fi elements as we get various futuristic technologies being utilized as well as costumes and weapons that feel like they were lifted right from The Fifth Element. As a sucker for this kind of stuff, I was very happy by all of this. We also get some solid action sequences that are often creative and have some fun choreography that take advantage of M3GAN’s agility and have some interesting wrinkles added in (like her not being allowed to kill at one point) that makes one wonder what will happen. This especially applies to a big smackdown in the climax which really plays up the T2 comparisons. Also dug the willingness to be a little more violent and gruesome (at least as much as the PG-13 will allow). The titular doll is also brought to life wonderfully with an impressive mix of CGI and practical effects (credit to body actress, Amie Donald as well) and I like the visual ways in which we see her visualized when she’s not in her robot body. This is also just a polished, well made movie that looks good (dug the use of neon colors at certain points) and feel like it’s taking advantage of the money given.
As clunky as the script is at the very least none of the performers are phoning it in. Allison Williams doesn’t phone anything in as she does solid work once again selling Gemma’s concerns about AI as well as being more than a little distrust worthy of M3GAN, while also having some neat comedic moments that make the character more likable. Violet McGraw is also good as Cady, playing up her angst a lot more as she’s still trying to navigate her life after her parent’s death and has conflicting feelings toward M3GAN being gone. Both actresses get the job done, the problem is that it feels like their tumultuous relationship here is something of a repeat of the first with them at odds over so much and debating about the need for technology, it’s just not nearly as developed or compelling which makes the intended emotional beats not land as hard. It makes the growth achieved in the original feel limited when they still don’t really get along making both characters not as likable or sympathetic as before despite the intentions of the writing.
When it comes to the titular doll herself, she is once again a very fun presence with a lot of sass up her programming and some very memorable one liners delivered perfectly by Jenna Davis. Despite being more of a good guy, there are still threatening undertones present and I appreciated the attempt to make us question where M3GAN’s intentions truly lie and that she is more doing this for Cady’s sake (a more interesting motivation than is usual of slasher villains). Even thought it takes a bit for her to take on her usual form there is fun to be had with her consciousness being in various places (such as a cute looking Teletubby like assistant). I wish more was done in regards to AMELIA though as Ivanna Sahko brings the needed menace and functions well as a bigger threat, but not it only feels like the surface level was scratched when it came to her character and what makes her different from M3GAN and she ends up feeling sadly underutilized.
When it comes to the human supporting players, they manage to add enough to everything. I like that Gemma’s co workers, Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) are given more to do as I find them to be good company and they provide some of the funniest parts of the feature with solid comedic timing from both actors. I found Timm Sharp to be delightful as the cocky army colonel Sattler who played a hand in AMELIA’s creation and is keeping tabs on our characters. His exasperation (and oftentimes idiocy) at what is going on is entertaining and I like where his character went. Also Jemaine Clements looks to be having a blast hamming it up as Alton Appleton, an eccentric yet corrupt tech billionaire, who wants to install chips into people’s head (gee I wonder who he’s supposed to be parodying… again I appreciate the topicality). The one supporting character that didn’t do much for me was that of Christian Bradley, a cybersecurity expert who is also working with Gemma to advocate for AI regulations. Aristotle Athari is fine here, it’s just that the character’s role is so painfully obvious and he just becomes an exposition machine whose motivations end up as muddled as the script.
In the end, I found M3GAN 2.0 to be a frustrating mixed bag that I found myself wishing I liked more. It has plenty to enjoy as the campy tone is fun, I like when it focuses on the spy games, the comedy mostly lands, it is very well made, the action is neat, it has some interesting ideas, and the actors are all having fun. However, the muddled messaging, overcomplicated plotting, lack of investment in the story, and less effective repetition of what the original was going for hold it back a lot. It’s odd as in trying to keep things urgent while leaning into the over the top, an odd cocktail is created that makes the tone feel strange and will definitely alienate fans of the original who wanted a more straightforward follow up. If one is looking for something reasonably entertaining or is somewhat curious by the genre shift, then this might have some value. I definitely can see the vision here and was genuinely excited for this given how much I liked the first. There are glimmers of a better film here and I do wonder how things would’ve been if Akela Cooper came back to co write the screenplay as she has shown with Malignant that she can handle this kind of balance of horror and absurdity very well. A disappointment for sure, but also interesting to look at in regards to how it decides to go about changing things up.
Rating: C+
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