3/10
No one could predict the success of Blumhouse Pictures’ surprise smash hit that was M3GAN, a killer robot film that went viral on social media app TikTok after a clip was posted of the title character dancing before her next kill. It is known since that the movie was reshot after becoming an internet sensation, transforming itself from a R-Rated feature to a PG-13 that would allow those that made the film viral to see the feature for themselves.
Internet popularity allowed the film to become a success, audiences witnessing a homage to films like Child’s Play or even The Terminator, as a killer robot terrorised its creator and the child she was assigned to help, and featuring enough campy and sensational moments across its runtime to match the internet sensation it became. As frequently it becomes when a horror feature becomes a smash-hit, its now become time to franchise out this new feature, and here we arrive at M3GAN 2.0.
The sequel follows the events of the original feature, as Cady (Violet McGraw) and Gemma (Allison Williams) attempt to move on after destroying the titular killer. When a new humanoid robot, made by the military using M3GAN’s original code, goes rogue, Cady and Gemma must attempt to rebuild the murderous robot that plagued them in the past in a bigger and bolder new body. The three must now work together to stop a potential AI takeover.
If this plot sounds complicated, it is because it is. M3GAN 2.0 does not really know what it wants to be, and the script by director Gerard Johnstone, based on a story idea from original script writer Akela Cooper, is messy and overcomplicated. This follow-up feature removes the horror elements from the original completely in favour of becoming a straightforward action-science-fiction hybrid, feeling like an overcomplicated mismatch of stories told before, like the James Bond films, the Mission Impossible features and most clearly T2: Judgement Day.
Director Gerard Johnstone described the movement between M3GAN and its sequel to essentially be a homage to Terminator and its follow-up. What works there however just does not work in M3GAN’s sequel, the movement to action leaves so much what worked about the original out the door, the kills are replaced with sloppily edited action sequences, the personal story about dealing with grief as a family through a self-help robot is replaced with a over-the-top heist movie with sets and plots that feel ripped out of a Marvel movie. These elements that are missing seem to be replaced with elements that just double down on the elements of the first film that emphasised the internet sensation it became.
The original feature’s charm came from the film’s tonal inconsistency, the film was commonly hilarious and filled with campy sequences, but the film took itself seriously throughout. The sequel’s script, which features only a story-by credit from the original script writer, leans heavily into the camp to a detriment at times. The plot, characters and emotional beats struggle under the weight of a film trying to recapture the original, a film attempting to recapture the viral sensation of its predecessor. Jokes land every second in the film, but the fact that the film is attempting to be in on the joke instead of being inconsistent with that tone leaves the film feeling more ridiculous than camp.
Johnstone’s direction was easily the weakest part of the original feature, the film was not popular because of its technical prowess, and when this follow-up has nothing from the first film that particularly worked, that direction becomes more apparent. Scenes are frequently shot over-lit, especially during the first act where the locations look so mundane and visually comparable to a commercial, and when the film does become an action film in the second half, the action is shot so flatly.
Action sequences are hard to follow, shot in quick cuts where Johnstone fails to hold onto a shot for long, leaving a viewer disoriented and confused with what is happening. It is an action trope that feels like it should have long been removed from the genre after the Bourne franchise and franchises like John Wick reinvented long-take action sequences.
The film has not faired well at the box office, with producer Jason Blum already stating that Blumhouse over-emphasised the franchise potential that M3GAN could have had, and the change of genres seems to be a big point of contention. Doubling down on the campy nature of the film and reverting to an action film rather than retaining the serious tone and the horror elements of the original has served to create a film that seems like a pale imitation of its predecessor. Franchise potential this does not have.
Rhys Reviews 