M3GAN 2.0 (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Two years after M3GAN’s rampage, her creator Gemma resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down Amelia, the military-grade weapon who was built by a defense contractor who stole M3GAN’s underlying tech.

My Take – Despite releasing on the first weekend of 2023, a slot usually reserved for some of the very worst genre films, M3GAN was an unexpected hit, raking in over $181.8M from a $12M budget.

Though it mostly played like a by-the-numbers domestic horror artificial intelligence (AI) riff on Child’s Play (1988) and Annabelle (2014), it was often sly and frequently funny. But no one could have predicted just how many memes it would spawn and become a viral phenomenon that would not just swivel the film into a surprise smash, but also turn its titular android lead into a pop culture icon.

However, for its follow-up returning director Gerard Johnstone (now also the writer) has gone the Terminator route. In sense, the narrative has severed its horror roots, raised the campy nature of its predecessor, shifted deeper into science fiction and has upgraded itself to summer action blockbuster territory.

And the result is surprisingly fun sequel that mostly delivers on the weird tone, even though it seems unable to keep up with the delightful awkward humor writer Akela Cooper brought to the first film. Yet mostly, it’s chaotic, completely self-aware and importantly, knows exactly what kind of film it is.

No pretense, no filler, just pure killer doll camp with colorful visuals, synth-heavy music, and razor-sharp one-liners. This is not a meta or hyper-intelligent tale, but I guess it isn’t even trying to be. Leaving us with a silly 90s sci-fi action romp that raises some important questions about AI in the 21st century.

Set two years after the events of the first film, the story once again follows Gemma (Allison Williams), the roboticist who originally created M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis), who after a brief jail term has reemerged as a technology critic, and has teamed up with Christian Bradly (Aristotle Athari), a former cybersecurity expert turned anti-AI activist, to push governments for stronger technology regulation, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence.

However, it is her stint as an author of a bestseller that has allowed her to rebuild a pretty cozy life with niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), who against her aunt’s wishes is studying computer science and is irate that her guardian keeps cutting off her screen time.

But just as Gemma begins to get back into business with an experimental robotic exoskeleton that she has been working on with her former workmates, Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez) and Tess (Jen Van Epps), trouble arrives in the form of AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno). A rogue M3GAN prototype that was designed for infiltration and assassination by a secret division of the Pentagon that became self-aware and escaped control.

Since then she has been killing off everyone involved with her creation. Believing that her mission will inevitably lead back to her and once again put Cady in danger, Gemma decides to reboot M3GAN. Pulling herself and everyone back into more robot shenanigans.

Indeed, the sequel leans into the sheer silliness of its premise and is all the more fun for it. With its domestic horror roots long gone, the narrative unravels as a full-on action thriller with tons of gun play, hand-to-hand combat and one wing-suit infiltration sequence that would be right at home in a Mission: Impossible feature.

Compared to the original, which was more subtle and centered on parenting and grief, this sequel is louder, flashier and more interested in fun set pieces, tech gimmicks, and over-the-top style. M3GAN herself returns more intelligent, more self-aware, and more dangerous than ever before. Her evolution from a rogue AI to something almost human makes the story more chilling. Some of the film’s best parts are when M3GAN and AMELIA face off.

While M3GAN herself was responsible for the deaths of four humans and one dog, this time around the two robots ensure that the screen is littered with the corpses of shootings, decapitations, severed limbs and laser slayings. And yes, she dances again and yes, she sings another ballad at an inopportune moment again.

But while the sum of this film’s parts makes for a quick and enjoyable couple of hours, undeniably the second installment has lost its predecessor’s element of surprise. Also, the film suffers from trying to do way more than it has to. There’s a lot of exposition in the first act-government hunts, anti-AI groups, corporate negotiations-it’s a lot to take in and definitely feels breathless at times. By the third act this film has so many twists and turns that it just becomes convoluted and confusing. That’s not to say there aren’t some fun moments though.

Performance wise, Allison Williams and Violent McGraw are still appealing leads, while Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps too get to offer a lot more to the proceedings this time around. Aristotle Athari, Timm Sharp and Jemaine Clement make for newer fun additions.

Ukrainian-American actress Ivanna Sakhno, who had appeared in smaller roles in films like Pacific Rim Uprising (2018) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), gets her moment to shine here. She looks absolutely stunning, has incredible screen presence, and proves enough potential to take on bigger characters.

But like its predecessor, this one is once again an Amie Donald and Jenna Davis show who ensure that the titular robot doll’s shenanigans remain an absolute delight. On the whole, ‘M3GAN 2.0‘ is a surprisingly solid fun sequel that is even campier and more action loaded than one would expect.