Two years after M3GAN’s first rampage, her creator Gemma (Allison Williams) is forced to bring the infamous AI doll back to life in order to defeat a new threat: Amelia, a sleek, military-grade killer robot built using stolen tech from M3GAN’s original design. The premise suggests an epic battle between two rogue AIs, but M3GAN 2.0 fumbles what could have been a sharp, satirical showdown.
As someone who wasn’t especially impressed with the first film, hopes weren’t sky-high going in. Still, there was potential here—plenty of room for smart commentary, creepy moments, or at the very least, some outrageous fun. What the film delivers instead is a muddled mix of tones and a robot fight that’s about as coherent as “a camera strapped to a horse doing backflips,” a line from one review that sums it up better than anything else could.
That said, the movie is funny—sometimes even hilariously so. One scene in particular, during a home invasion, plays like a twisted homage to Home Alone, and it set off waves of laughter in the theater. For those who go to horror movies looking for laughs instead of scares, M3GAN 2.0 might hit the mark. But that’s not the genre it’s pretending to be part of. The horror element—already shaky in the first film—is even thinner here. M3GAN’s menace is mostly gone, and Amelia, the supposed villain, never feels like much of a threat.
The lack of real stakes is compounded by a third act that becomes so tangled in plot twists and questions about AI ethics that it forgets to land a satisfying ending. Characters disappear, reappear, and swap allegiances with little clarity, and the final reveal muddies the waters further. It’s a shame, too, that M3GAN herself gets only a minor upgrade—tougher skin but none of the flashy enhancements that could’ve made the showdown thrilling or at least visually memorable.
Gemma and Cady (Violet McGraw) return, and both actors do solid work, especially in showing how Gemma has evolved since the events of the first film. But the story surrounding them doesn’t give them much to work with. At over two hours, it feels padded and aimless.
I’m not a huge horror fan to begin with, but even as a casual viewer looking for a popcorn flick, this sequel didn’t land. It might find a fan base, but not with me—or the 14-year-old young lady I saw it with. We both left the theater more confused than thrilled.