M3GAN 2.0

Sometimes, if you’re partial to the world of visual entertainment and watch a lot on a screen, something silly and tongue-in-cheek but still delivered with quality is just what you need to stand out from the oversaturated crowd.

That’s certainly the case with M3GAN 2.0. Is it the film that will generate the most buzz and ticket sales this summer with new Marvel, DC and a new Jurassic to come? No, but will it be the most fun? It could well be.

After the successful horror/comedy hybrid of the first film, a sequel was inevitable and could so easily have been a trash cash-in to rake in the young audience the first one attracted.

Instead, returning Director Gerard Johnstone and the returning cast actually surpass the original with a quite insane, sci-fi action movie that drops the horror element entirely and recasts M3GAN as the hero. This, and we don’t even see her return fully until a fair chunk into the movie.

It’s Terminator 2 meets Mission Impossible meets Austin Powers meets Team America meets the Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too episode of Black Mirror.

Tongue wedged in cheek, we’re pulled through a globe trotting, espionage-esque storyline of telegraphed twists, gonzo action, a M3GAN base-jump, Jermaine Clement as a sleazy tech-mogul, many an underground 'lair' and robot fights.

It works because it’s so batshit and so fun. Sure, removing the violence (already dulled in the original to lower the age rating) is a shame and, tonally, those expecting a horror will feel short changed but it’s a wild ride that puts some of its more serious competition to shame.

Some of its more prescient and insightful comments on technology and AI are eroded somewhat by a plot that is a little too convoluted and layered in exposition. You can see the twist villain coming a mile off but motivations and logic are severely lacking.

That shouldn’t matter in a knowingly parodic film but, given it clearly also wants to have some sort of moral grounding in terms of ‘kids on screens’ and the ‘threat of AI’, it feels somewhat stuck between two poles.

What an absolute joy it is though. Funny, silly, frenzied, enjoyable and featuring another laugh out loud, sure-to-be-viral moment of M3GAN singing.

The best film starring a doll since Barbie.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️