Film Review – M3GAN 2.0

June 30th, 2025 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

M3GAN (2022) was a surprise hit for several reasons. It combined a tried and true horror trope – inanimate toys/dolls coming to life as killer beings – and a growing apprehension over the development of A.I. The result was a fun and entertaining horror film, capped by a viral dance that was so popular the marketing department sent out a troupe of performers to mimic it pretty much everywhere. From sporting events to talk shows, you couldn’t miss the “Dancing M3gans” if you tried. So, it would only make sense that M3GAN 2.0 (2025) would arrive in hopes of keeping that lighting trapped firmly in the bottle. Unfortunately, the exuberance of the original doesn’t translate in the sequel. Instead of good silly fun, this one is just kind of silly.

The biggest revelation is how much this departs from the first entry in terms of tone and atmosphere. Where the original was a smaller, satirical horror film, M3GAN 2.0 does a complete 180 degree turn, aiming for a more action/sci-fi/comedic approach. Writer/Director Gerard Johnstone takes a page out of the James Cameron playbook, shifting the genre away from horror to a bigger, more action-oriented arena. Parallels will certainly be made between this and both Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). As a result, the film suffers in its theming and character development. The public’s fears of Artificial Intelligence are only lightly covered. The notion that humanity has created the cause of its own downfall are not explored deeply enough. In fact, the narrative is so wishy washy in what it’s trying to convey that we start wondering if it has any perspective about A.I. at all.      

The writing tries to argue that the advancement of humans and technology should go hand in hand with one another. A.I. should be regulated, monitored, and controlled for the benefit of people. This argument, at best, feels like it is sitting on the fence. We see it in the roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams). When we reunite with her, she is advocating against A.I. technology (given her near death experience in the first film) while still trying to be a good parental figure to her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw). Things take a turn for the worst when Gemma discovers that the code she used for M3gan has been stolen to help create AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno), a highly skilled weapon licensed by the government for top secret missions. As one would expect, AMELIA goes rogue and leaves a trail of bodies in her wake. Desperate, Gemma sees no other option to stop AMELIA than to resurrect the very robot that almost killed her last time: the one and only M3gan (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis).

I was disappointed to find M3gan to be more of an anti-hero this time around. Part of the joy of the first film was seeing how Gemma, Cady, and others tried to outsmart the wisecracking, dancing M3gan. This time, she takes the T-101 role as a protector against AMELIA’s upgraded, T-1000 model. M3gan delivering her sardonic wit and dance routines doesn’t have the same spark when she is on the good team. In contrast, AMELIA is without question the more advanced of the two, but her personality is bland. The writing/direction doesn’t allow Ivanna Sakhno to give life to the character other than being a stone-faced assassin. The special effects add some nice touches, such as the scene where AMELIA escapes out of a travel bag piece by piece and slowly assembles herself into her full form. There is an eerie, disturbing quality in how she puts herself together. Unfortunately, we don’t get enough of that.

The production design and art direction heighten how much bigger this story is compared to the first. The small confines of Gemma’s smart house are replaced with shadowy government headquarters, fancy tech expos, and hidden underground science labs. Characters wear mech suits to give them superhuman strength and agility, and soldiers are decked out in all sorts of nifty gear and armory. The cinematography (Toby Oliver) goes into hyperdrive, twisting and turning to keep up with the action. When a character flips in the air or performs a roundhouse kick to someone’s face, the visuals will spin right along with it. Eventually, the narrative completely abandons the horror genre. At one point, it switches into full on Mission: Impossible mode. M3gan storms a secret compound by first leaping off a mountain and gliding herself down, ala Tom Cruise in Dead Reckoning (2023). It’s one of those moments that make no sense story wise, but makes absolute sense as of a ridiculous, over-the-top set piece. 

When the film focuses on M3gan and AMELIA existing in a human world with inhuman abilities, it works. The “Uncanny Valley” effect is utilized in comedic ways. When M3gan tries to soothe Gemma’s anxieties by singing a lullaby (borrowing from the first film), the absurdity is very funny. But when the writing/direction tries to balance the goofy elements with a legitimate discussion about technology, it falters. Gemma first argues how A.I. can be detrimental when parenting a child, yet she finds no other alternative than to rely on it to save the world. Is the film trying to argue that yes, sometimes it’s ok to rely on computers to do your bidding? That’s not exactly a thought-provoking sentiment. Characters constantly switch their perspectives – sometimes they want robots destroyed, other times they rely on them to survive. It’s a strange jumble of ideas that doesn’t really land at a satisfying conclusion. 

Interestingly, my response to M3GAN 2.0 is much like its outlook on A.I.: wishy washy. There are elements that I enjoyed and some that bewildered me. I was left with a strange, empty feeling. It was as though the production was building toward something substantial but ultimately didn’t get there. One’s enjoyment of this will be based partly on expectations. If you go in hoping for the same experience as the first entry, you will be disappointed. If you go in ready to watch a movie that splits away from the original, then you might like what you get. If this practice of genre switching becomes a trend, I look forward to M3GAN 5.0 – The Rom Com Musical.

Aliens, Allison Williams, Amie Donald, Featured, Gerard Johnstone, James Cameron, Jenna Davis, M3GAN, M3GAN 2.0, Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Toby Oliver, Tom Cruise, Violet McGraw