M3GAN (2022) was full of surprises, both literally and figuratively. The horror movie was born from the combination of two pre-existing parts. Firstly, the “killer doll” trope has existed at least as far back as 1945’s Dead of Night and has only continued thanks to the popularity of the Chucky franchise that began with 1988’s Child’s Play. Secondly, the “killer A.I.” trope may be relatively more recent, but it is no less uncommon. Although M3GAN’s combination of these tropes was beaten to the punch by, ironically, 2019’s Child’s Play remake, the film felt fresher, as writer Akela Cooper and director Gerard Johnstone delved into a campy aesthetic as much as they did issues of parenting and artificial intelligence.
With such a solid foundation, the M3GAN series could have gone in a number of directions with a sequel, including a dull retread of the first film. Happily, M3GAN 2.0 (2025), written and directed by Johnstone (from a story by himself and Cooper), is even more ambitious than its predecessor. In the tradition of prior Blumhouse wild swings, such as Fantasy Island (2020) and Happy Death Day 2U (2019), M3GAN 2.0 essentially transforms the genre from a horror film to a full-blown sci-fi action movie. This switch will definitely alienate some fans of the original. Yet, it’s such a natural transition that, combined with the franchise’s intentionally campy humor, the sequel ends up being a genre hoot.
M3GAN 2.0 is Like a Funnier Terminator 2
Funny enough, the structure of M3GAN 2.0 closely resembles that of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). After her defeat at the end of the first movie, M3GAN (again played by Amie Donald with the voice of Jenna Davis) apparently hid her surviving source from her creator, Gemma (Allison Williams), to secretly watch over her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), as the young girl entered her pre-teens. During this time, not only has M3GAN grown to begrudgingly accept Gemma as Cady’s family, but the US government has also obtained Gemma’s old (stolen) files and created an AI assassin of their own: the deadly AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno).
Just as M3GAN became self-aware and sought to protect her own interests by any means necessary, AMELIA has reached a similar state of consciousness and embarks on a mission to execute everyone responsible for her existence, which unfortunately includes Gemma and Cady by proxy. Initially attempting to sequester her “family” in an underground bunker that she constructed in secrecy, M3GAN is instead convinced by the girls to help stop AMELIA’s rampage of revenge. From there, M3GAN 2.0 only gets wilder and weirder. While the film’s relatively low budget doesn’t allow it to go too insane visually, the story goes to some truly bonkers places in a fashion that’s now become expected of all James Wan productions.
M3GAN 2.0 is a Blend of James Wan, ’90s Action, and More
For those who firmly believe that James Wan is a master of horror, it’s easy to forget that the director made the gritty action drama Death Sentence (2007) and one of the most gloriously cartoonish Fast & Furious entries, Furious 7 (2015). Hell, even his giallo-inspired Malignant (2021) takes a surprising turn towards action in its third act. In this way, M3GAN 2.0 continues the Atomic Monster tradition. Gerard Johnstone and cinematographer Toby Oliver seem to owe a debt to Wan’s old buddy Leigh Whannell, too, as several of the action sequences in M3GAN 2.0 recall Whannell’s locked-off camera technique from Upgrade (as does a small plot twist that occurs late in the movie).
Despite its many obvious connections to James Wan, M3GAN 2.0 is very much Johnstone’s film, as the action helps guide the narrative into a variety of other genre flavors. The sequel curiously blends elements of Michael Crichton, Masamune Shirow (creator of Ghost in the Shell), Yukito Kishiro (creator of Battle Angel Alita), and James Cameron together with direct-to-video action cinema from the ’90s, recalling Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren’s Universal Soldier franchise. All of this is enhanced by the movie’s increasingly chaotic camp factor, resulting in a couple of female killer robots punching and kicking each other, with one styled like Lady Gaga and the other singing a Kate Bush song.
The Great Ambitions of M3GAN 2.0 Can Be Too Much for the Movie to Handle
If all of this sounds like M3GAN 2.0 teeters between being a bravely ambitious sequel and one that bites off a bit more than it can chew, it’s because that’s exactly the case here. Gerard Johnstone sets a challenge for himself in serializing nearly every element of the first film, striving to maintain internal logic as he steers the sequel in multiple different directions. There is still room for some horror in M3GAN 2.0, as the movie doesn’t always stay consistent with its commitment to action. It makes a detour through the spy thriller genre, too (including a moment which pays cheeky homage to Tom Cruise’s motorcycle jump from Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning).
Setting aside the potential tonal issues that viewers may have with a sequel not only switching genres but also flipping through them like a book, there are numerous world-building elements and plot mechanics that Johnstone does his damndest to address as many as possible. It can be refreshing to have the characters be self-aware enough to verbally ask follow-up questions that the audience is thinking of, though this often pushes M3GAN 2.0 into heavy expository territory. Additionally, this further highlights the awkwardness of some obviously deleted or reconfigured material.
M3GAN 2.0 Respects Its Characters and Themes Regarding AI
When not focused on tongue-in-cheek humor and action, M3GAN 2.0 finds time to be surprisingly thoughtful. This is especially evident in how it develops all its major returning characters. Where James Cameron employed a clever switcharoo in order to get a “good” T-800 in T2, Gerard Johnstone goes out of his way to keep M3GAN, Gemma, and Cady recognizably the same, but undergo significant changes during the movie. This isn’t a sequel where characters simply stand around and wait for their big moment. It’s one where all of them are constantly making new mistakes, learning from them, and applying the knowledge they have gained. There’s a real sense of growth, which dovetails nicely with the plot’s increasing complexities.
While no single film could hope to encapsulate the problems surrounding the rise of AI in the real world, the fact that M3GAN 2.0 even tries to embrace the nuances and big picture involved is impressive. It does so in a manner that is more accomplished than last year’s similarly themed AfrAId, which was too inept to address the issues it raised. That movie felt redundant because Blumhouse already had the perfect character to deal with these themes.
It would be facetious to say that M3GAN 2.0 will have you catching feelings for those food delivery robots. However, it might get you to consider that a better way to push back the takeover of AI is to kill ‘em with kindness. It’s either that, or we all learn kung-fu! M3GAN 2.0 is a lot, and it may not be tonally consistent, but it is constantly engaging.
M3GAN 2.0 hits theaters on June 27!
Release Date: June 27, 2025.
Directed by Gerard Johnstone.
Screenplay by Gerard Johnstone.
Story by Gerard Johnstone & Akela Cooper.
Produced by Jason Blum, James Wan, & Allison Williams.
Executive Producers: Michael Clear, Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks, Gerard Johnstone, Mark David Katchur, Judson Scott, & Ryan Turek.
Main Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari, Timm Sharp, & Jemaine Clement.
Cinematographer: Toby Oliver.
Composer: Chris Bacon.
Production Companies: Blumhouse Productions & Atomic Monster.
Distributor: Universal Pictures.
Runtime: 119 minutes
Rated PG-13.
