With Megan 2.0 I was unexpectedly walking into the sci-fi action film that it was in expectation that it would continue her more sinister nature from the 1st film. The question is, am I at fault for not looking into the films themes beforehand or is it right to have full expectations when walking into the second instalment of a horror franchise that I should expect some horror? Don’t get me wrong, there are some minor throwbacks to the initial film but there was actually so much messaging throughout the film that it left any action until the final third of the film. This is a 2 hour film, you’re investing at least an hour of your time waiting for things to kick off and if that’s not worth your seat in a cinema, I wouldn’t blame you.

Now, some of the themes were on point and similar to what I referenced with Terminator 2, we see how a more realistic and upscaled version of Skynet would be, the entire world gone in a flash at some powerful AI, a God as described in the film. That in itself is terrifying but as Megan is the saviour in this film, she ends that before it could begin. I think with all the preaching in the film about learning from the mistakes of creating Megan and what that meant for humanity and it’s potential survival, to not have a real glimpse into what could be brought on by AMEILA, the new AI introduced into this film. She is in many ways Megan unchained, or alternatively what we thought Megan would become at the end of the first film. The AI system in some larger cloud server that could do more insane carnage under the guise of keeping Katie safe. Instead this was given to AMELIA and Megan became the hero. This is where my Terminator 2 comparison came from. There were twists that happen in the film, I was on board with. I was worried we’d get no robot fighting by the end of the film but thankfully we did and the action sequences was great but ultimately I needed more of that then the build up. It felt like the entire first 2 ACTS were centred around strictly dialogue with vague humour thrown in, in order to make it go down easier. The humour was okay. In many ways it got a smile out of me but there is no way people find this film utterly hilarious. It kind of reminded me of Deadpool when it came out, not that the film wasn’t funny but by the time Deadpool hit the theatres, we’d seen all of the major jokes in the trailer. This film felt a bit like that in that the jokes felt dated and kind of predictable. The singing scene was the thing that actually brought out a genuine laugh from me, because it played into the ridiculousness a little more. I think what this shows is, you can’t half arse comedy and you can’t half arse horror. Although this is rightly not a horror film I guess, it sits so comfortably in the middle of multiple genres that you could see it as a success or a film with a serious identity problem.

I will say however, all acting was generally really well done. Although Megan was complete CGI throughout most of the film, the actual action sequences we got was with someone in a suit actually doing some choreograph. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask for these days? Things were coated in a little too much gloss that it may be hard for some people to feel this film is grounded in reality. The practical elements are gone, the first film used them a lot more, leaving CGI for purely uncanniness. I will say though I feel ultimately sorry for Allison Williams by the film. Sometimes you could kind of tell in the acting, for me anyway, she looked completely exhausted of long ass dialogue segments where she comes across quite arrogant and resorting to be the only opposing force in a group of people trying to work together. She was however allowed to shine with some emotional moments with Megan, expressing her fear of being a failure of a Mum and never being good enough when it counts. The film really missed more of this, less of what she’s trying to do for the world and more about what she needs to do for Katie. This was the issue with her character in the first film, at the end of Megan we feel like she realised that ‘family matters’ and in this, Gemma appears to have learned absolutely nothing. In fact she seems to have doubled down entirely. Thankfully she sort of does a 360 by the end of the film, sort of. Megan is the star of the show, as you’d expect. I loved the little anime toy she was put in, it was great to see Megan be way more expressive with the cartoon face. Katie takes on more of a role in this film but she wasn’t really pushed to go any extra miles, quite a comfortable performance. It was nice to see her colleagues Cole and Tess get much more of an important role throughout the film and was the much needed opposition to Gemma’s overbearing nature in her family and her work life.

Finally with Christian and AMELIA, Ivanna Sakhno was outstanding and I wish the film had more of her in it. She brought the stakes and seriousness the film needed and there should have been more of an emphasis on what she was capable throughout the film so we could feel the threat that the characters were meant to feel also. Thankfully we got a ton of her in the ending, amazing fight sequences with great camera work. It really reminded me of Malignant sometimes. Christian was an unexpected twist of a bad guy and I didn’t hate it or his performance at all. It worked for me and everything that was set up did pay off.

Without going over every inch of the film, I can safely say that if you know what to expect with Megan 2.0, the genre and tonal shift, you are in for a good time. If you’re expecting horror, you wont find it here. But that doesn’t mean its bad but I wouldn’t be surprised if people walked away a little disappointed.