‘M3GAN 2.0’ Review: Girly Pop ‘Terminator: Judgement’ Day

Admittedly, when M3GAN was released, I was not a fan. I thought the film, whilst instantly iconic, was tiring, too self-absorbed and unimaginative. As you could imagine, this wouldn’t incite confidence in a sequel, but here we are, and as per usual, I am proven wrong. M3GAN 2.0 subverts expectations in not only quality, but also genre, plot, and its comedic tactics, too. Read our full M3GAN 2.0 review.

M3GAN 2.0 follows programmer and advocate Gemma Forrester, again portrayed by the electric Allison Williams, who returns as the lead from the first film, as she is confronted with a new foe, the rogue AI operative AMELIA (Ivanna Sakho). With M3GAN (Amie Donald and Jenna Davis) back from the dead, Gemma, Cady (Violet McGraw), Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez), Tess (Jen Van Epps), and Christian (Aristotle Athari), must team up with their past foe to face the bigger threat.

Those familiar with action films will know what this movie is spoofing— James Cameron’s Terminator: Judgement Day. That film followed a similar plot: a group of people teaming up with a robot to take down a bigger, meaner robot. In addition to this obvious ode, the film also aims to be a love letter to the genre as a whole, with some great martial arts moments, as well as an excellent bit surrounding Steven Seagal and a few of his best-known films. It is this dedication and obvious love for the genre that makes this film so sincere, and as a result of that sincerity, a solid film. 

The movie is alright with that action in mind, but where the film really shines to me, is the tongue-in-cheek comedy, particularly involving a character, Altman, played by Jemaine Clement. By now, everyone knows who Clement is, being one of the great comedians of our time, but the trailers thus far have been underplaying the sheer shine of his character. Every line of dialogue that comes out of this character’s mouth is gold. From the obvious “standing” dialogue addressing his being in a wheelchair, to some of the sexual moves he makes throughout, his character is by far the best addition to the M3GAN canon.

Whilst M3GAN 2.0 makes for a huge improvement on an overrated first movie, the film still falls into some cliches that sadly make the film less interesting and more bland than it should have been. This is something that I sadly don’t expect to be fixed in its spin-off film SOULM8TE and possible future sequels due to the film’s attempts to spoof some of the genre’s mainstays. You may have noticed by general omission of a few cast members in my analysis of the film, and that is entirely due to how underwhelming those certain characters are. From a weak twist villain to unmemorable supporting characters, these are not even worth a mention.

M3GAN 2.0 is a thrilling take on the action-satire, giving some great laugh-out-loud moments, but also falling into the trap of cliché. Thanks to a strong cast, some strong visual effects, and a witty script, M3GAN 2.0 makes for a GR3AT time.

M3GAN 2.0 is directed by Gerard Johnstone, and stars Allison Williams as Gemma, Amie Donald and Jenna Davis as M3GAN, Violet McGraw as Cady, Ivanna Sakhno as AMELIA, Brian Jordan Alvarez as Cole, Jen Van Epps as Tess, Aristotle Athari as Christian and Jemaine Clement as Altman. 

M3GAN 2.0 is now playing in theatres worldwide. 

Thank you for reading our M3GAN 2.0 review. For more reviews, stay tuned here at Feature First.