Megan 2.0

Directed by Gerard Johnstone, Megan 2.0 follows Allison Williams’ Gemma as she reluctantly agrees to rebuild the title robot after a different robot (Ivanna Sakhno’s AMELIA) embarks on a killing spree. Filmmaker Johnstone, armed with his own script, delivers a periodically entertaining yet mostly (and disappointingly) underwhelming endeavor that does, at least, deserve some credit for going in unexpected directions (ie this is far from the horror-forward sequel one might’ve anticipated), and it’s clear, too, the movie boasts (and benefits from) a small handful of tense, exciting action sequences that generally (and effectively) buoy one’s waning interest. There’s little doubt, then, that Megan 2.0‘s downfall is due almost entirely to its ludicrously overlong running time of about two hours (!), as the aggressively padded-out atmosphere (eg Megan doesn’t even get rebuilt until around the one-hour mark!) paves the way for a meandering midsection and second half that grows less and less interesting (and more and more interminable) as it progresses – with the slow-as-molasses atmosphere highlighting the less-than-enthralling attributes within the proceedings (including and especially a woefully bland villain). By the time the tedious climax rolls around, Megan 2.0 has confirmed its place as a distressingly lackluster followup that has absolutely no business running a second over 90 minutes.

** out of ****