Movie Review

New horror film M3GAN 2.0 turns up the campy fun of the original

M3GAN in M3GAN 2.0.

Photo by Geoffrey Short/Universal Pictures

When a studio releases a movie in January (aka Dumpuary), the general rule of thumb is that they’re trying to get rid of a movie that isn’t very good. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, as M3GAN was in 2023, which rode the comedy of a killer AI robot who likes to dance to over $180 million worldwide.

A sequel was a given, and now with a built-in fanbase, M3GAN 2.0 is a prime summer release. After running into trouble with her robot invention, Gemma (Allison Williams) has seemingly seen the error of her ways, now focused on creating things like a mechanical exoskeleton that can benefit society. Little does she know that the code she used to create M3GAN (aka Model 3 Generative Android) has been co-opted to create AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), a new robot which is being used for nefarious purposes.

Naturally, the only thing to do is to bring M3GAN (played by Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) back from the “dead,” which is easy to do because — surprise! — she has been lurking inside the smart house in which Gemma and her niece Cady (Violet McGraw) now live. The inevitable showdown between the two robots is alternately helped and hindered by people like billionaire Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement), fellow tech entrepreneur Christian (Aristotle Athari), co-worker Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez), and others.

Written and directed by Gerard Johnstone, who also directed the first film, M3GAN 2.0 doesn’t stray from the original formula, delivering way more laughs than scares. Because there’s a familiarity with the character, Johnstone leans into the campy side of things, essentially winking at the audience for much of the film. Whether it’s temporarily imprisoning M3GAN in an innocuous desktop robot or a number of one-liners, there is a lot of comedy to be found.

The film is a type of horror, though, and it delivers in the mild, PG-13 way that won’t offend non-horror fans. AMELIA (aka Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android) gives off Terminator vibes, and she lays waste to virtually all challengers. M3GAN doesn’t get to show off her skills as much as she did last time, which might be a tad frustrating for some, but she gets in enough punches and kicks for the experience to be worth it.

The story itself starts off strong before devolving into an overly complicated mess. The arc of AMELIA is particularly strange, as the strength of her powers and the level of her autonomy seem to change at will in the second half of the film. Gemma develops a rivalry with another character that might have worked better if it had been hinted at early in the film instead of being dropped in as a surprise.

Davis’ voice performance as M3GAN is once again fantastic, as she delivers sarcasm and menace equally well. Sakhno isn’t asked to do much but look terrifying, and she accomplishes that job. Williams is up and down in her role, stronger in the moments when she’s not being asked to prove her tech bona fides. Clement is his usual over-the-top self, which suits his character.

As with the first film, if you go into M3GAN 2.0 not expecting anything more than some goofy violent robot action, you’ll walk away satisfied. The unlikely breakout hit for Blumhouse Productions may not be able to support a good story, but it entertains in the way it’s supposed to do.

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M3GAN 2.0 is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain gets in a tangled love story in new drama Dreams

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

movies film

Movie Review

New horror film M3GAN 2.0 turns up the campy fun of the original

Movie Review

Jessica Chastain gets in a tangled love story in new drama Dreams

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