It’s M3GAN, bitch. Two years ago, the eponymous android doll brought to the forefront the dangers of artificial intelligence, as well as the need for parents to be present with their children. The Model 3 Generative Android (aka M3GAN), was created by robotics engineer Gemma (Allison Williams) to be a companion and a parental figure to fill the void her niece, Cady (Violet MgGraw) needed after the death of her parents. M3GAN’s objective was to protect Cady, but she understood the assignment and then some, killing those who were deemed as threats to Cady and almost doing the same to Gemma herself. Aunt and niece barely survived the ordeal, seemingly eliminating M3GAN for good. Since then, Gemma has become an activist for better AI regulation.

Yet, AI evolves quickly, and the US military has perfected an “Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics & Infiltration Android,” or “AMELIA” (Ivanna Sakhno) for short, off of M3GAN’s original blueprint. AMELIA’s first field mission is highly successful until she eradicates the person she was meant to save. Now with another rogue android on the loose hell bent on reshaping the world, M3GAN reveals herself to be “alive,” and offers to protect Gemma and Cady from what’s coming. Though rightfully reluctant, Gemma may have no choice but to align with the devil she knows.

The first M3GAN surpassed box office expectations during its release January 2023, and gave Blumhouse another mascot ostensibly to build a franchise around. Functionally a horror, nothing about it was inspired in that regard, but the camp was present without being overt. M3GAN 2.0. feels like it can’t quite win. While some people are going to love that it leans into the camp and completely does away with any interest in being known as a scary movie, others are going to argue that it’s way too in on the joke, and eschews its straightforward predecessor’s premise into something more convoluted. Can both be true?

Returning to the sequel is director Gerard Johnstone, sans co-writers Akela Cooper and James Wan. This go-around, the budget goes to bigger and more pronounced action sequences. Think Terminator 2 crossed with a lot of Upgrade and a little bit of Hobbs & Shaw. Similar to the last movie though, one can’t help but feel like an R rating would allow more of the chaotic moments to pop better instead of cutting away to maintain the PG-13 rating. Guess we’ll just have to wait for another unrated version.

The genre change and antagonist to antihero/protagonist switch M3GAN 2.0 employs has been at the heart of much discussion. I think it’s a solid decision, and a decision that gets more derision than Terminator 2 and Aliens did. However, it must be acknowledged that Johnstone is no James Cameron, and M3GAN 2.0’s story is far from the caliber of Cameron’s acclaimed sequels. Underneath the byzantine plot and telegraphed twist, M3GAN’s sequel does have a refreshingly neutral approach to artificial intelligence.

It’s just hard to find with the scattershot pacing and numerous story threads. Sharper scripting would make this a tighter watch with a shorter runtime. In areas, the humor lands big, with M3GAN’s uber-sarcastic delivery driving home a couple of pointed one-liners to her maker. Still, can’t help but feel like Johnstone and co. are hunting too hard for the laughs instead of trusting them to happen organically, and the winks to Steven Seagal titles are a choice. Most of the main cast returns for the sequel, who collectively turn in contributions that range from fine to rough, save for the voice work of Jenna Davis as the title doll.

Is M3GAN 2.0 getting more of a bad rap critically and commercially than it deserves? Methinks so, it’s a fine and sometimes amusing follow up to a movie that was adequate itself. Certainly have been and will be worse movies, but for a feature released smack dab in the middle of blockbuster season aiming to be a buzzworthy movie like its predecessor was, there’s not enough in the source code to reproduce that. With the early box office returns being a massive disappointment, this franchise may be marked for death.

C+

Photo credits go to collider.com, impawards.com, gamesradar.com, and screenrant.com.