M3GAN 2 - Does it work?

If I had to define M3GAN - the 2022 film - in one word, it would be: harmless, a sci-fi horror film that takes a predictable premise and executes it in an entertaining way, conscious of what it is and without needing to take itself too seriously.

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At the time, we could have said that Megan was a modernization of the same Chucky formula from Child's Play, only this time it wasn't based on children's desire for the latest toy, but rather on the recent epidemic that has made them obsessed with always having a screen in front of them.

Considering the recent rise of artificial intelligence, as well as the undeniable success of the film directed by Gerard Johnstone, it was inevitable that we would get a sequel to Megan the Frog, and overall, I feel they delivered exactly what they promised.

I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of these films, but there was something about the conclusion of the first part that made it interesting to see how this story would continue. And, although it's unnecessarily long, I can't say I didn't like what they did with their characters.

In short, in M3GAN 2 we see how Megan's technology, after being defeated in the first film, has fallen into the wrong hands, who are developing a new android to take control of all forms of artificial intelligence.

As a result, Gemma and Cady (played by Allison Williams and Violet McGraw) are tasked with reviving Megan, as she is apparently the only one capable of defeating this android.

What follows is a series of fairly clever action sequences interspersed with jokes and a script that dances between science fiction and drama. However, at the same time, I feel it lacks the elements that made the first part entertaining, especially when it comes to the dynamic between Cady and Megan, as well as the robot's twisted reasoning to follow her orders no matter what.

Instead, we're faced with a much more generic film, and the complete abandonment of its horror elements (which were already scarce in its predecessor) ends up working against it.

I honestly feel like it would have been better to follow Chucky's example with Child's Play, presenting a sequel more disconnected from the protagonists of the first film, and telling a story on a smaller scale to better capitalize on Megan's idea.

Instead, we have a film that seems to mimic the formula of something like Terminator 2, and the end result is empty and devoid of personality.

M3GAN 2 isn't a bad film, but far from using the flaws of the original M3GAN to correct course and show a better sequel, it doubles down on those elements that didn't work as well.

This score was taken directly from my Letterboxd account.