Remember how M3GAN was themed around grief mixed with campy horror to tell a story about how if someone relies too much on technology to cope, it can backfire? M3GAN 2.0 now goes pro-AI.
The killer artificial intelligence M3GAN has returned in the style of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in M3GAN 2.0. When the first film was released in 2023, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It used the themes of grief to tell a story through campy horror comedy and knew what film it was. The sequel does a complete tone shift to sci-fi action that feels like it was one of the films rushed to get done due to the success of M3GAN. It felt like a cash grab that fails to tell a coherent story with a consistent tone.
Taking place two years after the events of M3GAN, the sequel continues the story of Gemma (Allison Williams) and her adopted niece Cady (Violet McGraw) two years after the events of the first film. Gemma, now an advocate for ethical AI usage, must resurrect M3GAN to take down a government AI gone rogue soldier AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno) from (you guessed it) taking over the world. It’s the basic, typical 80s action plot executed poorly. M3GAN 2.0 fails to add anything new to the film and instead rehashes callbacks from the first film, poorly written jokes, dull action and a tone change that doesn’t fit.
It takes the route of Terminator 2: Judgment Day making M3GAN the protagonist like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 and to reiterate, it felt like a cash grab. A copy-paste of T2 minus the charm and entertainment. By the twist of the film, I felt my eyes rolling. I haven’t felt less entertained since watching the live action Snow White remake. M3GAN 2.0 should have been a film that could have worked if its tone were to have stayed with its campy tone like the first film.
Speaking of the tone change, what made Evil Dead II tone change work from the first Evil Dead was how over the top gory the first film was. Sam Raimi was able to use that to an advantage and mixed that with humour, making one of the best horror comedy films. Raimi used an already established tone and feel and perfectly blended it with humour, thus creating Evil Dead II. M3GAN had established the horror campiness about a killer artificial intelligence mixed with some comedy. When you change the tone to a new different genre of action/spy film, it doesn’t work well and feels more of a whole new film slapped with an existing film title.
To the film’s credit, I do admit a few of the jokes did get a bit of a chuckle from me, including a certain 80s TV show theme (you’ll know it when you hear it). And the cast do try their best with the material given and make the most out of what they have. In a practical sense, I liked how they relied on actual animatronics for some scenes. Obviously I understand that some scenes where it’s more heavy that practical needs that bit of CG assistance they need that touch up, which is understandable, but for the film using practical animatronics, I give credit when it’s due.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy M3GAN 2.0 a lot compared to the first film. By the time the credits rolled, I wished AI had taken over me, so I didn’t have to feel the dread from watching it. I hope the spinoff film Soulm8te releasing next year is more enjoyable, but if it’s anything like M3GAN 2.0, then no thank you.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via Universal Pictures.
Directed by Gerard Johnstone
Screenplay by Gerard Johnstone
Produced by Jason Blum, James Wan, Allison Williams
Starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ivanna Sakhno, Jemaine Clement
Premiere Date: June 24, 2025
Running Time: 120 minutes
Cinema from the Spectrum 
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