Plot Summary: Two years after M3GAN's rampage, her creator, Gemma, resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down Amelia, the military-grade weapon who was built by a defense contractor who stole M3GAN's underlying tech.

Director: Gerard Johnstone

Writers: Gerard Johnstone, Akela Cooper, James Wan

Runtime: 2 hours

• Allison Williams as Gemma
• Violet McGraw as Cady
• Amie Donald as M3gan

Review by: Samuel

What I Liked: 

The first M3GAN was surprisingly enjoyable for me. Not at all perfect, but great for what it was meant to be- a fun popcorn flick. But I did not think it was at all a film that needed or could even competently handle a sequel – boy was I wrong! The second blew away my expectations (which were in a valley) and actually ended up being better than the first. 

And it all starts with the title character. The voice work of Jenna Davis is immaculate she brings the killer AI doll to life. Just as in the first film Megan is a trash-talking smart-mouthed little troll of an AI, and you’ll love her for it. None of her sarcasm has dissipated in the 3 years since we last saw her, and she even funnier this time around. Megan is absolutely hilarious with amazing comedic timing and delivery. Most of the time you’ll spend laughing in this action-comedy (which has quite a bit of laughs) will be due to the star. In addition to Davis’ portrayl of Megan, I would sayBrian Jordan Alvarez’s character of Cole and  newcomer Aristotle Athari who plays Christian (pronounced Chris-Sean) added the second most laughs. Christian in particular has such an odd way about him- almost as if he himself is a robot- that it just makes you smile at his awkwardness. 

Now it is fun, but being an action-comedy, there’s more than just laughs. And wow does this movie deliver. Again, I’m coming from a place of low expectations so the amount of time that was clearly spent on the action scenes is impressive. The martial arts choreography surpasses some of the recent super hero film and the way the camera spins and shakes when a particularly devasting hit occurs helps bring you more into the film. None of this is particularly new, but it is done in a fun way since robots can bend and manipulate their bodies in ways humans cannot. And, I feel I must emphasize there is A LOT of action from the opening scene to the final minutes of the film. In the way of Terminator and Aliens, the genre has switched for M3GAN’s sequel. It only makes it more impressive that with so much action (in a film that wasn’t necessarily set up for it), it doesn’t get old. 

Overall, the movie absolutely nails the action and comedy parts, so as an action-comedy it most certainly succeeds. It is clear to me that the production team does care about this IP and dedicated the time and effort to it rather than just push out something for the money. 

What I Didn’t Like: 

Overall, I do like the film and think people should see it but there are some glaring issues. First the pacing- this movie is 2 hours and feels like like 2.5 hours. There is way too much going on all at once and trying to get through it all is kind of mess. Megan herself doesn’t even show up in her truest form until halfway through the film. You think you are getting a deathmatch between 2 killer robots but that plot point is put behind so many extra layers or exposition that it almost feels like false advertising. 

Also, Katie and Gemma- the co stars of the film. Notice how I have not mentioned them until now? They are very weak as characters. Without her direct connection to Megan, Katie kind of just feels like she’s there because she was in the first one. And Gemma…is dumb. You’ll hear that complaint from a lot of people but let me add context. I’m not that upset at Gemma for being distrustful of Megan, but her character is so different from the problem-solving maverick we saw in the first film, that it almost feel like two different people. She makes decisions that the Gemma in the first film would NEVER have made, and that just frustrated me. 

Now one thing that some people may not like is the genre switch. You can consider the first film a horror (though I did not find it scary at all). But this film is nothing of the sort. I don’t even think there’s a moment of tension. While I can appreciate the jump to focus on action/comedy even I must admit that sometimes it got a little too campy. 

As the person I was with said “It felt like when I watch a action flick from the 90s on a VHS tape. It’s fun to have on the background while I’m doing my laundry.” I wouldn’t go that far, but I understand the sentiment. The film leans into the cheesiness a bit hard at times. 

Lastly, the other robot, Amelia (portrayed by Ivanna Sakhno) felt like a thing to overcome. She didn’t really have a personality )which I guess works for the plot), but given that all the previews made it seem like she was an upgraded Megan, I assumed we’d get more character development from her than we did. 

Images Courtesy of IMDB