‘M3GAN 2.0’ (review)

First off, M3GAN 2.0 has no right to be as good as it is.

This film is an utter romp of a time that unapologetically leans so hard into the camp and ridiculousness of every situation on screen that it should be ashamed of itself. What is great about it, though, is that it is absolutely not. And I love it even more for it.

I had not expected to enjoy this film to the degree I did. I was also not prepared to laugh as much as I did. This film never takes itself seriously. Thank god.

2.0 picks up two years after the fateful events of the first film. Gemma and Cady appear to be in good physical and emotional health, given the trauma both endured at the hands of the original M3GAN.

Sure, Cady is in therapy, but very reasonable about the events a few years ago when her autonomous robo caretaker nearly killed her aunt and herself, when M3GAN’s primary objective to protect Cady is taken a few too many steps too far, resulting in some gruesome deaths and utter chaos at Gemma’s workplace.

Gemma has recently published a best-selling book about child raising and the dangers of AI. She and her new boyfriend have teamed up to convince Congress to pass legislation severely limiting and possibly abolishing the use of AI in all aspects of human life in the US.

When a new military infiltration robot goes rogue and on a killing spree, Gemma is tasked with resurrecting M3GAN and upgrading her operating systems as well as her chassis to defeat this new global threat. Will M3GAN help her human creators after all that happened to her in the first film, or will she choose revenge and destruction against her maker and the people who killed M3GAN 1.0?

Again, this film is a friggin trip. I understand that my synopsis of the film makes it seem like some super serio film about a rogue robots and a battle for the fate of humanity… well I suppose it is but is it also so intentionally funny that I don’t even know where to start with talking about all the bonkers shit in this film.

I guess my “back of the box” review would be: “M3GAN 2.0 does for killer robot movies what Evil Dead 2 did for the supernatural horror genre.”

Director Gerard Johnstone returns both as director and now writer as well to weave a smart and solid sequel that more than lives up to the surprise success and enjoyment of the original film. He perfectly balances the humor, horror aspect, and high-stakes jeopardy that both Gemma and Cady are put through. Along with director Johnstone, returning for more robo hijinks are Allison Williams and Violet McGraw as Gemma and Cady. Pretty much all the surviving cast members of the first film have returned. Joining the OG cast are Ivanna Sakhno as Amelia, the rogue robot, Aristotle Athari as Gemma’s new boyfriend, and Jemaine Clement being god tier hilarious as always as an eccentric billionaire philanthropist paraplegic.

This film shouldn’t work in any way, shape, or form, and yet it does. M3GAN 2.0 is a great sequel that out M3GANs the original film. It is a perfect example of how you do more without falling into the trap of most sequels, especially horror and action movies.

Sometimes, when a sequel tries to raise the stakes, and everything is seemingly bigger and more “exciting,” the creators only succeed in making more of the same and not necessarily different and better. M3GAN 2.0 doesn’t fall into that trap, thankfully. Johnstone, as director of the first film, has taken what Akela Cooper and James Wan created in the first film and not only expanded on it he does some pretty smart critiquing and poking fun at the absurdity of everything that happened.

It isn’t quite as self-aware as, say, a Deadpool movie. At no point does M3GAN wink at the camera or break the fourth wall, but writer/director Johnstone takes the film to the precipice of that hyper-awareness of what it is, but never leaps off the edge.

If you are looking for an extremely satisfying, fun time full of violence, unnecessary blood and gore, and giant gigabytes of laughs, then M3GAN 2.0 will happily fulfill your wildest needs.

*  *  *  *  *
Produced by Jason Blum, James Wan. Allison Williams
Screenplay by Gerard Johnstone
Story by Gerard Johnstone, Akela Cooper
Based on Characters by Akela Cooper, James Wan
Directed by Gerard Johnstone
Starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw,
Ivanna Sakhno, Jemaine Clement