Warning: This post contains major spoilers for M3GAN 2.0
WhileM3GAN 2.0has its high points, theM3GANsequel inexplicably cut down on the most viral aspect of its predecessor.2023’sM3GANwas a surprise successwith both critics and audiences, and this was owed at least in part to the movie’s titular horror villain. Like Chucky fromChild’s Play,M3GAN’s killer robot found many fans.
WhileM3GAN’s endingproved the robot was a force to be reckoned with, it wasn’t her many murders that made her a horror icon. Before the original movie even arrived in theaters, fans had made an enduringly popular meme ofM3GAN’s inexplicable little dance number from the trailer.
M3GAN showed off her moves in the movie’s promotional materials, and the surreal sight of an ostensibly threatening horror villain dancing like a TikTok star soon made her a social media legend. This moment also captured theoriginalM3GAN’s offbeat horror comedy tone, garnering the movie an audience who was happy to discover the movie lived up to it.
M3GAN Doesn’t Get To Sing Or Dance As Much In The Sequel
M3GAN 2.0 Inexplicably Cuts Down On M3GAN’s Most Viral Hobby
In the movie itself,M3GAN’s dancing was still included, but her role as a horror villain became even more comical thanks to a singalong scene. Tasked with providing her owner with a lullaby, M3GAN sang an a cappella version of Sia’s “Titanium” that was as hilarious as it was utterly baffling and unexpected. Like the dance scene, this moment spawned inevitable memes.
For some inexplicable reason, even though M3GAN singing and dancing was a fan-favorite part of the first movie,M3GAN 2.0barely features its titular killer robot singing or dancing at all. Admittedly, there is one iconic musical moment inM3GAN 2.0when M3GAN belts out Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” to console Gemma about her difficulties as an aunt.
However, anyone hoping for more musical moments from M3GAN 2.0 will be let down as most of the movie is more concerned with the M3GAN franchise’s new villain AMELIA than this viral element.
This gag works incredibly well, and it is easy to see why director Gerard Johnstone reached out to Bush himself (according to aCinemaBlendinterview) to secure the rights to the song. However, anyone hoping for more musical moments fromM3GAN 2.0will be let down, as most of the movie is more concerned with theM3GANfranchise’s new villain AMELIAthan this viral element.
M3GAN 2.0 Limiting The Dancing & Singing Misses What Made The First Movie Iconic
M3GAN’s Sequel Needed More Unexpected Viral Moments
The reason thatM3GAN’s dance went viral when the original movie’s trailer dropped was that it was an utterly unexpected scene from what otherwise looked like a relatively straightforward horror movie. A slasher villain serenading a potential victim or partaking in a loose-limbed dance routine is typically the stuff of parodies likeScary Movie, not Blumhouse horror movies themselves.
As such,M3GAN’s dance cemented her status as a cult icon online, but it also signaled the movie’s tone to potential viewers. This was a horror that was able to laugh at itself,M3GAN’s advertising promised, so viewers put off by intense gore or scares need not worry. This played into the surprise box office success and critical popularity ofM3GAN.
The big change is that M3GAN is now ostensibly more heroic, much like the Terminator inTerminator 2: Judgment Day, because she proved so overwhelmingly popular with audiences the first time around.
By the timeM3GAN 2.0’s endingrolls around, it’s hard to argue that the movie doesn’t deliver on the primary promise of aM3GANsequel. The big change is that M3GAN is now ostensibly more heroic, much like the Terminator inTerminator 2: Judgment Day, because she proved so overwhelmingly popular with audiences the first time around.
M3GAN 2.0’s Lack Of Singing & Dancing Is Disappointing
M3GAN’s Sequel Could Have Benefited From More Silliness
By and large, this change works, but it makes the lack of song and dance numbers disappointing. This isn’t helped by the fact thatM3GAN 2.0’s trailers leaned into her infamous penchant for dancing, so the fact that this character quirk doesn’t take up much screen time in the movie itself is a letdown.
M3GAN 2.0needed more dancing and singing from the movie’s heroine, and the franchise’s much-vaunted tonal shift should have made this imminently achievable. It is tricky to make a character like M3GAN legitimately threatening after viewers have seen her boogie repeatedly and cover a Sia song, so her more heroic role theoretically opened her up to a sillier sequel portrayal.
M3GANis available to view on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Instead,M3GAN 2.0succeeded in turning its title character into an action heroine but somehow doesn’t mine this for more comedic potential in the realm of song and dance. It is an inexplicable decision when, as evidenced byGrimbsurg’s recentM3GANparody, these are the things that made M3GAnNso memorable as a character in the first place.
If there is one thing that casual viewers expect from M3GAN, it is either bloodshed or an impressive song-and-dance routine.M3GAN 2.0delivers admirably on the former promise, but sadly, although the Kate Bush reference is admittedly inspired, theM3GANsequel drops the ball when it comes to its limited musical moments.
