Movie Review: M3GAN 2.0 (2025)
Synopsis: Two years after the AI doll she created, M3GAN, went on a killing spree, Gemma is a published author and vocal advocate for artificial intelligence regulation even as her business is failing and she continues to struggle to bond with her niece, Cady. When a military-grade AI, Amelia, goes rogue, Gemma, who comes under investigation from the FBI, learns the weapon was built with M3GAN's tech. Soon after, she learns M3GAN's consciousness is still alive and, desperate, reluctantly seeks her creation's help.
Who's in it? The movie stars Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ivanna Sakhno, Amie Donald and Jenna Davis.
Review: With windchills reaching as low as negative 30, it was too cold to go out last night, so my wife and I stayed in and finally watched M3GAN 2.0 with our teenage daughter. Even though we all enjoyed M3GAN when we watched it, I had some doubts about the sequel. As it turned out, the doubts were justified but the movie was still better than expected.
There were quite a few things about this movie I found I liked. For one, there were multiple mysteries. This includes who was controlling Amelia (Sakhno), who stole M3GAN's (Donald with Davis' voice) technology and if M3GAN could really be trusted. I wasn't overly surprised by the movie's "surprise" twist involving the main bad guy but there were still just enough twists and turns to keep me guessing about some of the other stuff.
M3GAN herself was as entertaining as expected, with a good mix of dangerous and comedic. At minimum, she made it easy to understand why Gemma (Williams) would be so reluctant to give her a body, even at the risk of her and Cady's (McGraw) lives.
Where the movie drops the ball is the whole M3GAN versus Amelia conflict. This could have been a film that featured that battle but instead kept the fight between the two AIs to a minimum. It was disappointing, especially with the film doing such a good job demonstrating their individual fighting skills.
The mother/daughter subplot between Gemma and her adopted niece also didn't hit the same as it did in the first film. The Cady/Gemma dynamic worked in the first movie because it was the reason for the whole plot. In this film, the conflict between the two just seemed forced and unnecessary, as did the conflict between Gemma and her two friends/co-workers, Tess (Jen Van Epps) and Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez). Frankly, the way everyone seemed to have an issue with Gemma, I was beginning to wonder why I was supposed to like her.
Final Opinion: It falls short of capturing the magic of the first movie but is still a decent-enough film to be entertaining. It's worth taking the time to watch, especially if it's too cold to go outside.
My Grade: B-
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Here are some reviews of other movies featuring a deadly artificial intelligence:
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