What do you do when your indie sci-fi slasher about a killer robot becomes a surprise cult hit? You sign on for round two, or course. Director Gerard Johnstone brings back the singing, dancing best friend for life, cutesy AI companion M3GAN for a second shot at fame, but in M3GAN 2.0 she’s not alone. This time around she’s joined/confronted by AMELIA, a sinister upgrade who plans to use AI for… eeeeevil.
Picking up a couple of years after the original doll was spiked though the face after murdering several people in the first film, M3GAN 2.0 starts off in what we believe to be a post-M3GAN world. It soon becomes clear that though the actual companion may be toast, the tech lives on in the form of a super-secret military AI experiment named AMELIA that goes spectacularly awry.
When AMELIA threatens to use her new and improved AI tech to take over the US’s financial system, it’s up to a quartet of M3GAN survivors to find a way to take her down. Original designer Gemma (Allison Williams) and her lab team Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) are joined by young Cady (Violet McGraw) as all four of them dodge both the new killer android and the federal authorities who believe them to be in cahoots with AMELIA.
It wouldn’t be M3GAN 2.0 without the reappearance of the original icon, and M3GAN makes a spectacular return across many forms in an attempt to help Cady and the others to neutralize the global threat. From then on out, it is non-stop sci-fi action as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Following the typical rule of unexpected sequels, M3GAN 2.0 turns everything up to 11 in a successful attempt to one-up its predecessor. Unlike the original film which fell firmly in the world of horror, M3GAN 2.0 is a straight up sci-fi action film, following the classic progression of series like Alien/Aliens and Happy Death Day/Happy Death Day 2U, and it makes complete sense.
Scares are replaced by high energy action scenes and mouthfuls of sci-fi jargon that are very nearly intelligible. Led by fight choreographer Tolga Degirmen (Hitman: Agent 47, Charlie’s Angels, The Witcher), M3GAN – acted by Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis, and stunt doubled by Elodie Pretorius – and AMELIA – acted by Ivanna Sakhno and stunt doubled by Ashlee Fidow – go at it a number of times throughout the film, with Gemma joining in from time to time to spice it up.
The film also features a fluid roster of potential villains beyond AMELIA, characters like AI magnate Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement), a smarmy Fed played by Timm Sharp, and the inscrutable AI alarmist Christian played by Aristotle Athari. Allegiances are fickle here, and you never know exactly who to root for or against, but it’s all a lot of fun.
The world of AI has evolved exponentially in the three years since M3GAN wowed audiences, and the sequel takes glee in exploiting our new fears – righteous and ridiculous – in this new iteration. Taking influence from films like Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Short Circuit 2, and Upgrade, Johnstone embraces the silliness of the whole affair, leaning into the viral elements that made M3GAN a hit. Lighting is neon, music is loud, outfits are eye-watering, and the action is ludicrously over-the-top, but also a blast to watch.
With the glut of AI and AI-inspired films attempting to make any number of serious ethical statements on this very real threat to humanity, it’s actually a relief to have a bit of levity plopped into the conversation. As to whether the sequel lives up to its predecessor, it’s more of a hamburger versus steak question; it depends what you’re in the mood for. What is undeniable, though, is that M3GAN 2.0 is an absolute blast from start to finish, in spite – or perhaps because – of its commitment to lunacy that really hits the spot.