28/06/25

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Good news for all those AI doomsayers: M3gan is back!

M3gan, written by Akela Cooper and James Wan, was 2023’s most unexpected delight, the adventures of an AI ‘child companion’ who… how can I put this? Begins to exceed her brief. It raked in a lot of money so it was inevitable that there would be a sequel. But after all the gleeful carnage of the first adventure, where is there left to go?

Well, you could take the premise of the second Terminator film, where the story’s original villain returns as the hero, reprogrammed not to kill anyone and battling against a new, improved and even more ruthless version of himself. Or in this case, herself. Not that this is necessarily where Cooper, Wan and new co-writer Gerard Johnstone found their inspiration, but the similarities are inescapable. In M3gan 2.0, the injury details have been dialled down a tad and the humour amped up. The result is eminently watchable.

Two years after the events of the first movie, M3gan’s original creator, Gemma (Alison Williams), is somehow still managing to ply her trade as an AI toy designer – possibly the most unlikely element in the story – in real life she’d doubtless be in prison. She’s still working alongside her assistants, Tess (Jen Van Epp) and Cole (Brian Jorden Alvarez), but she has erased all files pertaining to her most infamous creation. At least she thinks she has. Her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), dreams wistfully about her old AI chum and hopes that one day they’ll be reunited.

But then along comes Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), an android created by the American military, designed for infiltration and assassination missions, who unfortunately has now become self-aware and has decided to head off on a mission of her own. But she’s seemingly invincible. Who could possibly take her on in a cat fight? When Cady discovers that her old pal M3gan has somehow secreted herself in all the different devices of Gemma’s smart home, it’s inevitable that the two iterations will eventually come up against each other. Amelia is leaner, meaner and way more powerful – but can she warble a Kate Bush song with the same degree of panache?

To be brutally honest, the storyline here doesn’t bear any scrutiny. For one thing, we’re expected to accept that three people, working in a basement with whatever comes to hand can create an updated version of everybody’s favourite atomic blonde in what seems like twenty minutes. But as the action galumphs along, powered by laugh-out-loud dialogue, it’s hard not to be swept up in the sheer fun of it. The stand out for me is a scene where Gemma and M3gan start to come over all sentimental and… well, you’d need to see it.

Jenna Davis and Amie McDonald combine their respective talents to create M3gan, and Sakhno cuts an impressive figure as her nemesis. There’s also an engaging turn from Jemaine Clement as Alton Appleton, a misanthropic billionaire who wants to have M3gan’s blueprints under his control. Hmm. Wonder who he’s inspired by?

The franchise should probably end here, but of course, if this second helping pulls in enough spondoolicks, there’s sure to be more. Suffice to say that film two pretty much matches its predecessor in the entertainment stakes. Just leave your incredulity safely at home before you head to the cinema.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney