M3GAN 2.0 ~ Review

In the opening sequence of M3GAN 2.0 a killer robot named AMELIA sneaks into a weapons manufacturing plant and punches a guard’s head clean off from his neck. Sometimes all you want is deep-fried b-movie cheese.

It's been two years since the doll M3GAN (Amie Donald’s body with Jenna Davis’ voice) went on her murderous rampage and was defeated by Cady (Violet McGraw) and her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams) -- the creator of M3GAN. In the intervening years, Cady and Gemma are trying to adjust to normal life as best they can, but things have been tough to say the least. Cady is still having trouble making friends at school, while Gemma is now an ethical tech crusader, having written a book about limiting children’s use of technology alongside activist Christian (Aristotle Athari).

However, when a different killer robot named AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), arrives on the scene and appears to be hellbent on taking over the world, Cady and Gemma will have to make an uneasy alliance with the original M3GAN to stop her.

There’s no other way to put this, but M3GAN 2.0 is bananas. It’s a delightfully silly movie that delivers completely straight-faced exposition about a killer A.I. which was built from a copy machine in the 1980’s. At one point, M3GAN (dressed like an anime reject) battles AMELIA who is dressed like Maria from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. It's a movie where someone says, “Don’t open the door because I have a zoom call with the U.N.” There's a significant plot point that revolves around Steven Seagal movie titles.

Look, I love a film with profound themes about the nature of humanity and how we can be better people, but sometimes you just want to see two killer robots beat the ever-living tar out of each other.

M3GAN 2.0 is an earnestly bugnuts film. I had a total blast with this campy deranged movie. That doesn’t mean that the film has nothing to appreciate, far from it. A movie with this tone is a difficult balance to pull off. On the one hand, you want the stakes to feel real. However, on the other hand, you do not want to play things too seriously, otherwise the audience will not be in on the joke. Director Gerard Johnstone manages to pull off that tonal balance with aplomb. The exposition is framed like a 1950’s sci-fi flick about the dangers of robotics. At the same time, Johnstone deploys John Wick-esque action with cyberpunk visuals.

The script by Johnstone from a story by Akela Cooper, balances this tone as well. The overly silly and earnest dialogue is peppered with actual jokes as well which makes everything pop.

I find that this playful tone is the hardest for the actors to pull off. They’re the ones who have to say and do ridiculous things, but not act like they are being absurd.

History is littered with b-movie parodies where the actors did not quite understand the type of movie they were making. Allison Williams is given the brunt of the exposition here and she pulls it off well. Williams has a knowing wink in her eye which clues the audience into the fact that she's in on the joke, but that doesn’t ultimately betray the movie – she also gets a fun action sequence near the end. Violet McGraw is good here, but unlike the first M3GAN the script doesn’t give her as much to do. McGraw does have a heartfelt conversation with M3GAN that doesn't come across as too hokey. The M3GAN doll herself is a fun character and M3GAN 2.0 gives the killer robot an actual arc. Making her more complicated, she also has a very bizarre singing moment which made me cackle. The makeup and prosthetics on Armie Donald make her a convincing robot and Jenna Davis’ voice work gives depth, emotion, and humor to her.

M3GAN 2.0 is a lot of fun -- a nice palate cleanser before we all find ourselves drowning in Blockbusters next month.

Three out of Four Stars