Whilst the original M3GAN was sold as a horror film, its camp sensibilities ultimately shone through, turning its titular killer “doll” from a slayer to an outright slay. It had tense set-pieces and a terrifying mentality, but it found its personality sat more comfortably in the space of a meditation on A.I. and technology through the lens of a comedic thriller.
It’s that temperament that should be remembered when entering M3GAN 2.0, a wild pivot of a sequel that honours an action mind-frame over anything particularly scary; think a fabulously-coded Terminator 2 and you have an idea as to what director Gerard Johnstone is going for. The science-fiction/action genre makes perfect sense for a film about advanced technology and their uprising, and Johnstone has plenty to say about A.I. and how in the three years since the first film it’s a tech that has exponentially grown.
Since the first film, Gemma (Allison Williams) has become a staunch anti-A.I. crusader, and rightfully so after her design – M3GAN – took her orders of protecting Gemma’s niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), far too literally. Gemma wants her latest round of tech to favour the human element, but it’s all ultimately too little, too late, as the design documents that detailed how she created M3GAN have been leaked and the U.S. Government have opted to use such tech to create AMELIA (or autonomous military engagement logistics and infiltration android), played with stoic intensity by Ivanna Sakhno, an A.I. killbot of sorts who, like M3GAN before her, starts to fight against the very system that created her.
Before she becomes self-aware she carries out her instructions on taking out a military operation in Iran, but it isn’t long before she’s rogue and destroying all those that have a hand in her creation. Naturally, the government need a hand out where they can, and they turn to Gemma for assistance, which ultimately leads to M3GAN (physically performed by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis), who isn’t as wholly destroyed as the first film would have us believe.
M3GAN, who was always more of an anti-hero than a straight-up villain, has kept up her end of the deal by maintaining a protection of Cady, even though no one was aware she was doing so. Sure, Gemma may have every reason not to trust M3GAN following the original’s narrative that resulted in multiple murders, but she is protecting her niece, and it’s that small nugget of trust that leads to the two uniting and Gemma agreeing to M3GAN’s request to have a body upgrade; she wants to be faster and more capable in her protection and her ability to take on AMELIA.
There’s sure to be many an audience member disappointed with the fact that M3GAN 2.0 isn’t continuing with any of its horror inclinations, but if you had seen the film’s trailer you shouldn’t be remotely surprised that a movie boasting such a tagline as “This bitch versus that bitch” as Britney Spears’s “Oops…I Did it Again” blasts away is going for anything other than maximalist entertainment and self-aware humour. Gemma and M3GAN have the bitchiest of banter, and even though AMELIA leans into notions of horror with her actions (she loves causing a fatal injury to one’s head), she too embodies a camp nature that Johnstone’s script runs with to no end.
Despite the film having to juggle its satirical comedy-cum-action horror sequel genre bites, Johnstone’s script presents itself as a product far deeper and worthy of conversation than many will probably give it credit for. The reliance on A.I. and just how helpful a tool it actually is, as well as questions around autonomy and a woman’s free will, mean there’s a well of commentary bubbling under the flashy imagery of M3GAN and AMELIA battling it out and Jemaine Clement‘s wildly humorous performance as a lecherous tech bro who hasn’t equated that money doesn’t replace charm.
Sure, M3GAN 2.0 could have absolutely taken a more violent, even gory approach to furthering its chatter around emphasizing the importance of humanity in a tech-driven world, but just because Johnstone and co. haven’t explored a genre route people may have been expecting doesn’t take away from this sequel’s overall impact. It was technology and the social media extension of such that turned M3GAN into a camp icon, so why shouldn’t the message so many seemed to project around what they liked about the first film be answered any other way than amping that factor to 11?
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
M3GAN 2.0 is now screening in Australian theatres, before opening in the United States on June 27th.
