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‘M3GAN 2.0’ – Review

‘M3GAN 2.0’ – Review

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The doll’s back, baby—and she’s deadlier, sassier, and a whole lot more self-aware. M3GAN 2.0, the follow-up to 2023’s breakout horror hit, veers hard into uncharted territory, trading slasher thrills for slick spy games, action-packed chaos, and a razor-sharp sense of satire. The result? A bold, genre-blending sequel that swaps screams for smirks, and strangely enough, it works.

Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous (and impeccably choreographed) rampage and was subsequently destroyed, M3GAN’s creator Gemma (Allison Williams) has become a high-profile author and advocate for government oversight of A.I. Meanwhile, Gemma’s niece Cady (Violet McGraw), now 14, has become a teenager, rebelling against Gemma’s overprotective rules.

Unbeknownst to them, the underlying tech for M3GAN has been stolen and misused by a powerful defense contractor to create a military-grade weapon known as Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno), the ultimate killer infiltration spy. But as Amelia’s self-awareness increases, she becomes decidedly less interested in taking orders from humans. Or in keeping them around.

With the future of human existence on the line, Gemma realizes that the only option is to resurrect M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) and give her a few upgrades, making her faster, stronger, and more lethal. As their paths collide, the original A.I bitch is about to meet her match.

In M3GAN 2.0 Gone are the shadowy corridors and jump scares. In their place: high-stakes espionage, corporate takedowns, and a killer robot doll who’s less Chucky and more Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde (with a sprinkle of Deadpool and a whole lot of attitude). This time around, M3GAN isn’t the villain lurking in your closet—she’s the anti-hero you kind of want to root for. Think femme fatale with an operating system upgrade and a pitch-perfect playlist.

From the first scene, M3GAN 2.0 lets you know it’s in on the joke. It’s a wild ride through tech culture, corporate greed, and meme-worthy madness. The film gleefully takes the piss out of its own premise with meta one-liners, satirical bite, and enough nods and winks to give you whiplash. Yes, it’s campy. Yes, it’s sarcastic. And yes, it’s damn fun.

Visually, the film is a knockout. Slick production design, futuristic tech environments, and polished VFX give M3GAN 2.0 a glossy, high-octane aesthetic that screams franchise blockbuster. Whether she’s hacking a drone mid-air or strutting into a boardroom with murder in her eyes (and couture in her code), M3GAN commands the screen like a glamorised, genetically perfect Terminator with a sense of humour.

Tonally, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. At times, it plays like a Bourne-style spy thriller; other moments lean into full-blown comedy, and then it throws in an emotional beat just to shake things up. It’s not as focused or tight as the first film, and horror fans hoping for a return to creepy doll terror might feel a bit short-changed. M3GAN isn’t scary anymore, not really. But that seems to be the point. If the original M3GAN was a cautionary tale about the dark side of AI, this sequel is a glossy remix that leans into the absurdity of it all. It’s a risky pivot, but one that pays off; especially for those less invested in horror and more here for the thrills, the tech satire, and the bonkers action sequences.

In the end, M3GAN 2.0 is a bold reboot-in-a-sequel that says screw it to expectations and leans full throttle into reinvention. It’s smart, stylish, and self-aware to a fault, and it might just be the weirdest, wildest AI flick you’ll see this year. Scary? Not really. Entertaining? Absolutely. M3GAN’s evolution from murder-bot to cyber-slaying anti-heroine is complete, and honestly, we’re here for it.

Image: Universal Pictures

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