I SAW M3GAN 2.0

It was only a matter of time before the synthetic, little darling, M3GAN, resurfaced on the big screen. M3GAN 2.0, which reunites the first film's director, Gerard (Housebound) Johnstone and his cowriter Akela (Malignant) Cooper (prompted by suggestions from filmmaker James [Aquaman/The Monkey] Wan), is the anticipated result: a movie that takes it's titular character's formidable abilities to higher heights. 

And to accentuate the point, M3GAN, a "model 3 generative android" (played by Amie Donald and Jenna Davis), is a tad taller: the increase being her request when she agrees to have her consciousness transferred to a new shell. Prior to such, her mind exists in a toy-like body that projects a cartoon face: nice and cute on the surface, but that doesn't mean the restriction is safe and secure. 

The reason for M3GAN's risky resurrection is to pit her against a counterpart, AMEILIA, an "autonomous military engagement, logistics and infiltration android" (played by Ivanna Sakhno), built as a defense weapon, culled from M3GAN's hacked programming. AMIELIA isn't an obedient soldier, and once she runs amok, M3GAN acts as an opposing force, much to the dismay and direction of the previous movie's resumed leads, Allison Williams' Gemma (M3GAN's designer), who's now dabbling in cyborg tech, and Gemma's niece, Violet McGraw's Cady, who's since acquired martial-arts skills on a par with Steve Seagal's. (Jemaine Clement portrays a corporate maverick who wants Gemma under his thumb; Tim Sharp is a F.B.I. guy who suspects the worst; and Brian Jordan Alverez, Jen Van Epps and Aristotle Athari are Gemma's in-touch colleagues.) 

The robot-vs-robot lead-up references other uncanny, movie melees (e.g. those of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman/King Kong vs Godzilla/Freddy vs Jason/Alien vs Predator), but the novelty isn't merely a matter of favoring the lesser of two evils, due to M3GAN's ambivalent tendencies. 

Watching the adversarial robots prance and, in M3GAN's case, dance, is a major highlight, but with that comes an obvious need to surpass the original. 

The first film's dry wit (mixed with its gruesome killings) felt organic, and thanks to its clever subtleties, it was the type of movie one appreciated more with repeated viewings. For M3GAN 2.0, the approach feels way more layered. It's a crutch that's plagued other imagi-sequels, including Child's Play 2, Bride of Re-animator and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, where there's the constant push to surprise, making the scenarios, in particular the humorous ones, feel superfluous. (As part of its supplemental ingredients, M3GAN 2.0 alludes to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and therefore the Star Trek episode, "The Changeling," Metropolis, Terminator, Alita: Battle Angel and believe it or not, Austin Powers, when it comes to its amusing espionage: a bulky blend, indeed.) 

Because of its overreach, I can't say that M3GAN 2.0 is superior to its predecessor (it's no Bride of Frankenstein, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Aliens or Dawn of the Dead), but I'd be remiss if I said it wasn't worth one's time. To a respectable extent, it still entertains (while never daring to be a virtual emulation, like Friday the 13th Part 2 or Return of the Living Dead Part II), doing a decent job of setting up audiences for M3GAN 3.0, which as long as this one draws a decent dollar, appears inevitable.