M3GAN was a surprisingly big hit in 2022 so it was just a matter of time before a sequel hit our screens. Allison Williams returns as Gemma who, two years after the events of the first film, has become an author and an advocate for regulation of artificial intelligence. M3GAN’s technology has been stolen and used by a defence contractor to create a military robot called AMELIA, who inevitably, becomes self-aware, turns on her creators and attempts an AI takeover. Gemma’s niece Cady (Violet McGraw) convinces her to rebuild M3GAN with advanced upgrades so she can fight AMELIA.
Gerard Johnstone’s sequel has bombed horribly at the box office. The decision to move from the horror genre, with its loyal fan base, to a more action based sci-fi was a disastrous move. This is a bit of a mess, with large sections of boring dialogue, a way too obvious ‘surprise’ bad guy, and little in the way of memorable action scenes.
Williams, McGraw and Brian Jordan Alvarez, as Gemma’s co-worker do the best they can with the thin material and M3GAN gets a handful of amusingly snarky lines, but otherwise this is a demonstration of how to kill a franchise stone dead.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10