M3GAN 2.0 Movie Review: A rudderless tale of robots versus humans

Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN (2022) is a simplistic mashup of classic sci-fi and slasher films, such as Child's Play, with very little originality. Its core premise of AI going rogue, acting beyond its programming parameters, and posing a threat to humans borrows heavily from James Cameron’s Terminator films. Even so, at some level, M3GAN is a fun romp that does not take much attentive viewing and occasionally entertains you with its set of quirks, such as Amie Donald’s titular character singing David Guetta’s ‘Titanium’ to pacify a child (Violet McGraw’s Cady). M3GAN 2.0, on the other hand, is even more shallow and too gruesome. The film goes away from its slasher roots and takes on the garb of an action thriller while weaving in some amount of science fiction. Oddly enough, the film starts somewhere in the Middle East, with a character, seemingly an assassin, trying to get out of a facility, fighting many men, making you wonder whether you are watching Ballerina instead. That is until the film reveals that the character is a renegade AI called AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno) whose core programming is similar to M3GAN and who plans to take out the whole of humanity, starting with her creators. Naturally, it gets to a stage where Cody and Gemma (Allison Williams) require M3GAN’s services.

Director: Gerard Johnstone

Cast: Violet McGraw, Allison Williams, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari

The film has the same issue that plagues the first part—convenient writing—but it also has illogical writing. Initially, Gemma's lingering trust issues appear to be an interesting area to delve into for the makers. How does Gemma, now championing AI regulation after her ingenious creation goes rogue and kills innocents in the first film, reconcile her need for M3GAN's help with her fear of AI and resentment for the latter’s past actions? When she tells M3GAN not to show fake empathy for her as the AI tries to pacify her by singing a song, the film offers some promise as it starts to bring back the quirky side of the franchise. However, Johnstone’s screenplay fails to explore this angle deeply enough, and it veers itself into sentimental territory instead. Further, the film does not explain how or why Gemma is unaware of M3GAN's capabilities. When the AI comes back through the cloud, there is a look of sheer shock on Gemma’s face, which belies her creative ingenuity. Remember, M3GAN is Gemma’s own creation, which Ronny Chieng’s tech boss (essentially the film) describes as one of the greatest inventions in the history of humankind. Further, the film focuses more on M3GAN herself and uses Cady as a mere plot device. At one point, Cady even needs a reminder as to who she is and what her capabilities are. Remember the point where she shows alertness to fight M3GAN with the assistance of a robot in the first film?

M3GAN 2.0 is also stuffed with too much plot. There is Gemma and her boyfriend’s (Aristotle Athari) attempt to ensure that the White House takes action with respect to regulation against AI. There is an army officer (Timm Sharp) trying to stop the AI takeover while doubting M3GAN, Amelia, and even Gemma’s intentions. How does the officer even think that Gemma is part of a political conspiracy against the US, and what relevance does it even have to the core plot? There is also some sort of ‘Mother AI’ with the same motive as Amelia; only, the former has more prowess. As a result of all these plot points, M3GAN 2.0 becomes too complex for its own good and deprives itself of even the little pleasures of the 2022 original. For a film with plenty of promise that talks about the powers and perils of artificial intelligence, it is such a shame that M3GAN 2.0 thrives on plot contrivances and artificial emotions.