By MICHAEL GINGOLD
So this is basically the deadly-doll franchise’s TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY.
Universal Pictures, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster unleash M3GAN 2.0 to theaters June 27. Directed once again by Gerard Johnstone, who also scripted by a story by him and Akela Cooper, it features original actors Allison Williams as Gemma, Violet McGraw as her niece Cady, Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps as Gemma’s tech teammates Cole and Tess, M3GAN performer Amie Donald and Jenna Davis, who provides M3GAN’s voice, along with newcomers Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari, Timm Sharp and Jemaine Clement.
The synopsis: “Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous (and impeccably choreographed) rampage and was subsequently destroyed, M3GAN’s creator Gemma [Williams] has become a high-profile author and advocate for government oversight of AI. Meanwhile, Gemma’s niece Cady [McGraw], now 14, has become a teenager, rebelling against Gemma’s overprotective rules. Unbeknownst to them, the underlying tech for M3GAN has been stolen and misused by a powerful defense contractor to create a military-grade weapon known as Amelia [Sakhno], the ultimate killer infiltration spy. But as Amelia’s self-awareness increases, she becomes decidedly less interested in taking orders from humans. Or in keeping them around. With the future of human existence on the line, Gemma realizes that the only option is to resurrect M3GAN and give her a few upgrades, making her faster, stronger, and more lethal. As their paths collide, the original AI bitch is about to meet her match.”
