By George & Josh Bate
In 2023, M3GAN brought the killer doll subgenre of horror into the 21st century. The Blumhouse and Atomic Monster production excelled in its camply fusion of humor and horror, introduced the world to a new horror movie icon, and became a massive box office success destined for the franchise treatment. Two years later, M3GAN trades in the horror for more humor and much more action, resulting in a sequel that, despite messy plotting and a drop in quality from its predecessor, delights as an energetic and ridiculously silly crowd-pleaser.
M3GAN 2.0 picks up two years after the events of the first film. Gemma (Allison Williams) has become an advocate for government regulation of AI, while her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) recovers from the trauma caused by M3GAN. Unbeknownst to them, a disembodied M3GAN has survived in the shadows. When a deadly new military robot named AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno) comes on the scene, Gemma reluctantly rebuilds M3GAN to save the world from an AI takeover.
The triumph of the original M3GAN laid in the film’s deft tonal balance between campy and creepy. With M3GAN 2.0, writer/director Gerard Johnstone reconfigures the algorithm to create a sequel entirely devoid of horror and, in its place, filled to the brim with quirky humor and 90s-style action. This pivot in genre sees the sequel takes itself even less seriously than the last one and means M3GAN is not exactly the 21st century version of Child’s Play that many predicted. Those seeking chills reminiscent of the first film will likely be disappointed with M3GAN 2.0’s attempt at being more broadly appealing summer fare, although there is still plenty to admire in this successor.
What’s not to admire, unfortunately, is messy storytelling that threatens to derail the film entirely on more than one occasion. A frenetic first act without a moment of breathing space features a jumbled story with too many moving pieces and confusing character motives. With a bulky runtime of two hours, M3GAN 2.0 overstays its welcome, in large part due to how unnecessarily lengthy and bloated this first act is. Eventually, things settle down and the movie feels like it is actually beginning when M3GAN finally receives a body again and becomes fully involved in the central conflict.
This conflict sees Johnstone borrow from James Cameron’s Terminator films in repositioning M3GAN as a protagonist, after previously being an antagonist in the first film. Consistent with the sequel’s tonal and genre pivot, this switch also allows M3GAN to go back-and-forth with Allison Williams’ Gemma, trading hilarious insults and one-liners. Much of the film’s humor comes from a solitary gag – the rigid and robotic M3GAN delivering informal human remarks and insults. In a way, the gag mirrors the MCU’s approach to humor with Thor, which largely relies on the Asgardian God and Avenger delivering more silly, human lines that are funny as they are inconsistent with his godly standing. Despite being quite one-note in its comedy, M3GAN 2.0 sustains the laughs throughout. Jenna Davis does excellent work as the voice of the titular robot, with her tone and inflections in her voice helping land each joke so effectively.
In addition to more overt humor, M3GAN also pushes horror to the backseat with a greater emphasis on action. With two robots at play now and plenty of government agents on their tale, there are ample opportunities for exciting, dynamic robot combat that the filmmakers take full advantage of. The action certainly derives influence from over-the-top 90s sci-fi films but is also clearly inspired by producer James Wan’s previous work in engineering calculated action sequences with immersive camera movement. Although action may not be what you’re expecting from a sequel to M3GAN, the craft behind the combat is undeniable.
After a vibrant second act characterized by great humor and action, M3GAN 2.0 stumbles in its final act. The streamlined story in the middle of the movie devolves into convoluted and even unintelligible territory with a third act twist that simply doesn’t make sense and renders much of the preceding film questionable. While the ultimate message about AI and its role in the future is certainly admirable, arriving at this conclusion requires sitting through a narrative that completely deteriorates upon the slightest of critical scrutiny. Between the messy beginning and convoluted conclusion, M3GAN 2.0 proves to be most enthralling in its middle act and is let down by its bookends.
Various performances in M3GAN 2.0 can be described as stiff, although that’s not a negative in every case. When applied to Allison Williams’ performance as Gemma though, it certainly is. The Get Out actress delivers a forced performance that, at times, takes one out of the movie given how unnatural and ill-fitting it is.
Unnatural and stiff, however, are descriptors that positively describe Ivanna Sakhno’s performance as the killer robot AMELIA. Sakhno, who previously impressed as Shin Hati in Ahsoka, makes for a captivating antagonist, reminiscent of Robert Patrick as T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Sakhno brings an incredible physicality to the role across a number of action sequences, while also capturing minute facial expressions and mannerisms with eerie precision. With M3GAN switching from antagonist to protagonist here, the sequel needed a solid villain to pose a threat, and Sakhno’s AMELIA is just that.
VERDICT: 6/10
M3GAN 2.0 trades in the campy blend of horror and humor that made the original so entertaining in favor of more jokes and much more action. While the tonal and genre pivot sees the sequel fall short of its predecessor, there is still plenty to admire about this reconfiguration. The comedy, albeit reliant on a single gag (i.e., a rigid and robotic robot delivering informal, human remarks and insults), works surprisingly well throughout the film due to the amazing vocal performance of Jenna Davis as the titular robot. The action, meanwhile, effectively draws inspiration from 90s sci-fi movies and producer James Wan’s calculated, dynamic directing. A strong, physical performance from Ivanna Sakhno as the killer robot AMELIA provides M3GAN with a formidable opponent and contributes significantly to how well the action is executed. M3GAN 2.0 is certainly a film of three acts, with a messy and overly long beginning finally giving way to a captivating and crowd-pleasing second act before devolving upon a convoluted third act twist. Ultimately, the risky decision to trade horror for more laughs and action isn’t what damages the film most – it is the disorganized and, at times, incomprehensible storytelling at fault. Beyond stumbles with its story though, M3GAN 2.0 makes for a summer crowd-pleaser destined to generate plenty of laughs from movie theater crowds, even if the loss of horror means M3GAN is unlikely to become the 21st century Child’s Play.