Allison Williams Returns for More AI Chaos

The campy sense of mischief that made Gerard Johnstone’s 2023 hit M3GAN so enjoyable asserts itself intermittently in M3GAN 2.0, a logical title for a follow-up to the thriller about a murderous robot. But the humor is forced to compete with seriously overcomplicated plotting in a sequel that entangles its horror comedy roots with uninspired espionage elements, becoming a convoluted mishmash with shades of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Mission: Impossible and the Austin Powers franchise. There are amusing moments reminiscent of the original, but in terms of tone and coherence, the movie loses its way.

The sequel works best when its focus remains on the central family unit — robotics scientist Gemma (Allison Williams), her orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw) and M3GAN (played physically by dancer Amie Donald in a mask and voiced by Jenna Davis), the android intended as Cady’s companion and protector, who went rogue in the last movie and had to be destroyed.

Johnstone takes on solo script duties from a story he developed with M3GAN screenwriter Akela Cooper, based on characters she created with James Wan. The director makes it clear from the opening that this will be a very different film — less interested in the domestic dysfunction and corporate mayhem of its predecessor and more concerned with arms-dealers, duplicitous techies and an industrial military complex with a shiny new toy. None of which, sad to say, is terribly fresh or exciting.

Much has changed on the artificial intelligence front in the two-and-a-half years since M3GAN was released, as AI has rapidly become more prevalent in contemporary life, both online and off-. The new movie states the obvious when it talks up the need for humans to co-exist with robotics technology, albeit with legal safeguards in place. But it’s too silly to have much bearing on the real world.

The tagline for the sequel is “I’m Still That B.” But M3GAN 2.0 is too infrequently allowed to be that B. Instead, she starts acquiring empathy and morality, which we all know are no fun.

That’s not to say she has lost her snarky delivery, her mean-girl death stare or her passive-aggressive manipulation skills. “You killed four people and a dog!” Gemma reminds her. “I was a kid when it happened, doing what I thought was right,” replies M3GAN with dubious contrition. She then gives Gemma a comforting peptalk about the challenges of being a mom before launching into a truly hilarious Kate Bush homage.

While M3GAN’s humanoid casing was destroyed when she got out of control last time around, her codes survived in not-quite-sleep mode. She’s been an unseen but all-seeing presence in Gemma and Cady’s home, which also serves as the lab where Gemma and her colleagues Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Tess (Jen Van Epps) continue their robotics work.

M3GAN has way too much intimate knowledge of her inventor for Gemma’s comfort, but when their lives are endangered, the robot makes a convincing case that only she can help them take down a new robo-threat. All she needs is a new body and a few upgrades.

That threat goes by the name Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), the T-1000 to M3GAN’s 101 model. Developed from the M3GAN template by the U.S. Army’s Defense Innovation Unit in Palo Alto and overseen by Colonel Sattler (Timm Sharp), Amelia is introduced on a test mission near the Turkish Iranian border, where she ignores her orders to rescue a kidnapped scientist, instead killing him and wiping out an entire research facility.

Once Amelia has eliminated almost everyone involved in her creation, Gemma and Cady seem likely to be next on her list. But there’s an awful lot of plot to trudge through before Amelia’s inevitable encounter with the rebirthed M3GAN.

Some of that involves Gemma’s advocacy for stricter AI control measures; her quasi-romance with fellow cautionary tech activist Christian (Aristotle Athani); her secret development with Cole and Tess of an AI-free mecha-suit that will equip humans with robot strength and stamina; the industrial espionage of tech billionaire Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement), who believes that Gemma’s new exosuit could be a game-changer with the addition of his neuro-chips; and the discovery of a killer robot dating back to 1984, dubbed Project Black Box, which has been locked in a vault, continuing to develop for decades. The ultimate fear is that Amelia will harness that mother-bot’s power and unleash global chaos.

Naturally, there’s also friction between rebellious Cady and her aunt, whose alarmism after the renegade M3GAN disaster in the first movie means computer science enthusiast Cady has to keep her own robotics projects hidden. Not that this thread is given the space to acquire much weight.

It’s delightful to see M3GAN 2.0 sashay back to life and reappear in her customary retro-preppy look, just as it is to watch her bust her signature dance moves at an AI convention, wearing a cyber-babe disguise. But too often, the star attraction takes a back seat to the much less entertaining Amelia, an icy blonde killing machine like so many icy blonde killing machines before her, with none of M3GAN’s sardonic wit. I got more laughs out of Gemma’s smart-home system outmaneuvering a team of FBI agents.

Sure, Amelia gets to do some cool stuff like scamper on all fours toward a target, scramble down a wall like a spider, rip the head off one poor unfortunate and neutralize entire tactical units with her dazzling fight skills. But the action mostly feels rote and lacking in suspense.

While it’s unfair to criticize Johnstone for wanting to change things up, it’s disappointing that he’s made a Blumhouse–Atomic Monster production that has almost no connection to horror. The creepiness that offset the camp in the first movie is undetectable.

McGraw and Williams (who’s also a producer here) are no less appealing than they were in the original, and Gemma gets to step into the fray with gusto once M3GAN slips inside her head via a neuro-chip. Clement is a droll presence who seems to have wandered in from the set of a James Bond spoof (“Ooh, you’re a naughty one,” Alton tells Amelia, his interest further aroused when she wallops him across the face). But he doesn’t stick around long enough to help get through the messy patches. And Athani signals Christian’s shadiness almost from his first appearance, which removes any surprise from the busy narrative contortions of the protracted climax.

The movie looks polished, thanks to Get Out cinematographer Toby Oliver’s sleek widescreen visuals. But it becomes a drag as confusion spirals around who’s controlling Amelia and how to stop her. M3GAN herself remains a fabulous creation with a wicked sense of humor (“Hold onto your vaginas,” she warns Gemma and Cole as she takes control of a sportscar), and the character’s canny mix of sweetness and menace is by no means tapped out. But if the franchise is to continue, she needs to go back to the lab for reprogramming.