M3GAN 2.0 (2025)


M3GAN was a phenomena that happened organically.  It was pretty much a retelling of Child's Play with an AI-powered machine (something the Child's Play reboot had already done in 2019) and some sci-fi trappings.  It was also a James Wan script handed to New Zealand director Gerard Johnstone, who had a minor cult hit with Housebound in 2014.  Despite being written by Wan much of Johnstone's quirky sense of humor bled through.  Also, although Blumhouse did put a fair amount of promotion behind M3GAN it benefited from becoming a set of memes that were shared on TikTok. 

Blumhouse was expecting the same to happen for M3GAN 2.0.  The marketing on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and elsewhere was ubiquitous.  Leading up to summer blockbuster season the killer doll seemed to be everywhere.  That is, until a week after the movie came out.  Despite all the advertising, which made it clear this was not a rote retread of the first movie and would be something different, it flopped.  The movie still only had a moderate budget, and most likely made it back, but the initial fan and critic backlash, as well as mediocre box office, has most likely prematurely killed the franchise.  Which is a shame because, with Johnstone allowed to write the script and have more control, what was a derivative thriller has become a fun romp, complete with Bond-style supervillain and apocalyptic stakes. 

After M3GAN went on a rampage and killed a number of people Gemma (Allison Williams) faced a trial and conviction and served a short sentence.  Upon returning to society she began doing speeches against using AI as a parenting tool, even going to so far as to write a book about it.  Her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) appears to be following in her footsteps, while Gemma has met a man named Christian (Aristotle Athari) who has the same anti-AI views as she does.  Plus, she is still working with Tess (Jen Ven Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez), this time designing an exoskeleton to help the disabled.  

The issue that arises is that M3GAN's code somehow made it into the hands of a company that developed a new machine, Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), for military use.  On its first mission it goes rogue, eventually killing its creators and targeting tech billionaire Alton Appleton (Jermaine Clement), who is also trying to recruit Gemma and her colleagues.  When the FBI, led by Agent Sattler (Timm Sharp), comes busting through her door she finds out that M3GAN (Amie Donald, Jenna Davis) is very much alive and, in order to protect Cady, is willing to help stop Amelia and, possibly, prevent the end of life on Earth. 

M3GAN 2.0 found some ways to work around Amie Donald's growth spurt as well as some other issues with taking a few years to develop.  When the AI is again given a body it still has that uncanny valley feeling, even if this time the face is CGI.  Despite the use of a number of digital effects mixed in with the practical a large part of the movie is blatantly anti-AI, revealing the consequences of humans tampering with power they do not yet have the ability to control.  There are some twists and turns along the way, some of them quite predictable, but it's a fun ride nonetheless.  Johnstone wisely got all the actors back again rather than going the cheap route of writing them out.  Also, Jermaine Clement is hilariously campy during his short time on screen. 

Johnstone admitted that Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a heavy influence on this movie but, unlike that sequel where the machine is undoubtedly the good guy, there is always grey area with M3GAN.  Her attempt to bond with Gemma through singing Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" can either be interpreted as an awkward attempt to apologize through the haze of her programming or as insincere manipulation.  Same could be said for many of M3GAN's motivations throughout the film despite her obvious reservations of following the path that Amelia has chosen.  It's a bit more nuanced than just a killer toy. 

Unfortunately, audiences don't want nuance.  They want memes, hashtags and background noise and, judging by most of Blumhouse's output, that's what the production company that made M3GAN 2.0 wants as well.  Johnstone, rather than delivering that, gave us his own vision of how the story should go.  Whether the franchise continues at least he can say that he was creatively, if not financially, successful. 

M3GAN 2.0 (2025)
Time: 120 minutes
Starring: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Aristotle Athari, Ivanna Sakhno
Director: Gerard Johnstone

 

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