“M3GAN 2.0” is exactly what you’d expect from the sequel to the surprise hit film: it’s bigger, louder, sillier, and more violent. It’s also not quite as good as the original, though that’s partially due to our familiarity with the material. Everybody on both sides of the screen knows who M3GAN is; the killer robot’s infamy is part of the plot this time around.
A quick refresher on the first film: M3GAN stands for “Model 3 Generative ANdroid.” She was created by programmer Gemma (Allison Williams, reprising her role here) as the latest high tech toy designed to keep lonely kids busy. M3GAN becomes a substitute Mary Poppins to Cady (Violet McGraw, also reprising her role), Gemma’s orphaned niece. Armed with the one directive to protect Cady at any costs, M3GAN takes her job a bit too literally — and to murderous extremes. You know what they say about computer programs: garbage in, garbage out.
M3GAN killed more than just four people and a dog in the first movie. She also slayed the box office to the tune of $180 million worldwide. With her bright blonde coif, snarky quips, wild dancing, and “HR manager from hell” attire, M3GAN became a favorite character for drag queens and trick-or-treaters. She also earned three stars from a certain trash-loving Boston Globe film critic.
So it’s no surprise Universal and Blumhouse wanted a sequel. And writer-director Gerard Johnstone (who also directed the original) throws in everything but the kitchen sink. We get international intrigue, chips that control brain function, a rip-off of the Entity from the “Mission: Impossible” series, and a sleazy tech bro played by Jemaine Clement from “What We Do in the Shadows.”
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There’s also the obligatory killer robot, but it’s not who you think. In the film’s opening scene, we meet Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), a blonde automaton agent on a top secret mission on the Turkish border. Amelia is a subclass of M3GAN, made from Gemma’s original code yet enhanced with new features. For example, she can assemble herself and punch a guy’s head clean off.
Like M3GAN, she also goes rogue, but with far bigger, potentially world-changing consequences. And the only thing that can stop her is M3GAN. It’s too bad that Gemma and Cady dismantled her in the first movie.
“M3GAN 2.0” catches us up on what’s happened since the first movie. Gemma briefly went to jail, and has now become an advocate against artificial intelligence. Cady is still in her care, though she’s secretly defying her aunt by fiddling with robotics. She’s also become adept in aikido, the martial art of choice for her favorite action star, Steven Seagal.
Gemma has a smarmy new boyfriend (Aristotle Athari), who demands that his name be pronounced “Chris-Tee-Ahn” instead of Christian. Neither she nor her tech bro beau is a fan of Alton (Clement), a major advocate for neurochips. Gemma thinks they’re dangerous, even if they allow the paralyzed Alton to stand and walk. “AI inside a human brain will not run shotgun!” we’re told. Talk about foreshadowing!
Where’s M3GAN in all this? After her body was destroyed by Gemma and Cady, she’s been hiding in the computer system that controls Gemma’s house. She makes herself known when some inept government agents attempt to break in. Once again, M3GAN’s hilariously rude voice is provided by Jenna Davis, who gives the robot a toddler’s petulance.
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M3GAN tells Gemma that she knows how to stop Amelia, but she’ll need a body to do it. Before we get to the familiar form once again embodied by Amie Donald, M3GAN must serve time in the body of a Teletubby-like robot. Her response to this revolting development is one of the film’s biggest laughs.
The worried comments about M3GAN’s return by Gemma’s teammates Cole and Tess (once again played by Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps) are also amusing. After all, she did try to kill them when they gave her a titanium body last time. Now they’re expected to give her the “Six Million Dollar Man” treatment by making her bigger, stronger, and faster. As a result, M3GAN is subject to the same no-killing rule Arnold Schwarzenegger had to follow in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
Eventually, we get to the big robot vs. robot fight. Before we do, however, “M3GAN 2.0” has some pointed commentary on just how sentient artificial intelligence-based items like driverless cars really are. There’s also a nod to the trials and tribulations of raising children. And since Williams is a producer, Johnstone gives her a big action sequence where she takes out more men than John Wick.
I would be much harder on this movie if I didn’t have such a good time watching it. Admittedly, it’s ridiculous, but I absorbed all of its haphazard chaos with a huge smile on my face. Plus, there’s a scene here that made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to have to leave the theater to compose myself. I’m still laughing about it now.
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At one point, M3GAN is used as a deus ex machina by literally becoming a “god in the machine.” Now, that’s clever! What would be even more clever is if the filmmakers quit while they were ahead. Because when you see what ultimately happens to M3GAN, the last thing you’re going to want is another sequel.
★★★
M3GAN 2.0
Written and directed by Gerard Johnstone. Starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Jenna Davis, Amie Donald, Jemaine Clement, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Aristotle Athari, Ivanna Sakhno. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 112 minutes. PG-13 (killing, cussing, and a cameo by Clippy, the Microsoft Word paperclip)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.