I was a (happily surprised) big fan of M3gan (2022) when I caught up with it, a superbly staged science-fiction / horror cautionary tale regarding the dangers of AI (Artificial Intelligence).  This story has stayed with me and I have thought about it many times since then.  I wondered how the inevitable sequel could equal it, yet the filmmakers have found a way.

Gerald Johnstone’s sequel begins with an AI robot going on a killing spree — but it isn’t M3gan.  It’s Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), who has an uncanny resemblance to a younger, lethal Rachel McAdams.  Anyway, Amelia is trying to eliminate any record of her own existence and she is coming for Gemma (Allison Williams), the genius who designed M3gan, whose original plans were used to duplicate (and improve) Amelia.  Who can protect Gemma and her daughter Cody (Violet McGraw)?  Only the original herself, thought to be destroyed, but living a sheltered existence, just waiting for the opportunity to reenter the real world.

Imaginative as can be, this sequel plays upon the fears created in the original but isn’t really a horror film the way the first one gradually turned into.  This is more of an action-adventure with larger themes at play, most centering on the capabilities of AI, who controls those potentialities and what should be done about them.  The potential gravest outcome of those themes is presented, and overplayed, I think, but it is thought provoking.  And for those who do not want to think so hard in their action movies, the robot mayhem is presented slickly with style and a great deal of humor.

Plenty of sci-fi features have intriguing premises that gradually (or sometimes very quickly) descend into rote survival stories without much depth.  These M3gan stories harken back to the Frankenstein and Golem legends yet dazzle us with state of the art effects, pyrotechnics and terrific acting (Amie Donald is spectacular once again as M3gan).  At times the robot is more human than the people surrounding her, as depicted in the excellent script, and her diligent actions to fulfill her purpose are awesome to behold.  This is modern science fiction as it is meant to be.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  19 April 2026.