The Stream: The overly complicated story with new annoying characters drags.

The Big Screen: M3GAN is still as sassy as ever.

The Final Bill: This sequel fails to recapture the magic that made audiences want it in the first place.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Writers: Gerard Johnstone story by Akela Cooper and Gerard Johnstone
Stars: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Jemaine Clement, Jenna Davis, Amie Donald, Aristotle Athari, Brian Jordan Alvarez
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: PG-13 for strong violent content, bloody images, some strong language, sexual material, and brief drug references.
Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes
Production Companies: Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Atomic Monster, Divide/Conquer, New Zealand Film Commission
Platform: In theaters June 27, 2025
Notable Trailers: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Conjuring: Last Rites, Together, Honey Don’t!, Nobody 2, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Hey, Streamers! In the summer movie season, you can’t turn around without bumping into another sequel at the theaters. M3GAN 2.0 is one of those sequels that was inevitable based on the final moments of the original film. Plus, M3GAN was a cultural moment back in 2023. In M3GAN 2.0, a military robot, AMELIA, who was built from stolen blueprints of M3GAN, has gone rogue and is killing those responsible for her creation. When Gemma (Allison Williams) is advised that she may be in danger from AMELIA due to her connection with M3GAN, she is convinced to revive and enlist M3GAN to take down her military counterpart. Cady (Violet McGraw) and Gemma’s colleague assist in the plans to destroy the rogue AI. Dancing robot hijinks ensue.

M3GAN 2.0 turns what was a horror movie with comedic elements into a spy, action-comedy with rogue AI. Is that what we wanted? It’s like Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning only with M3GAN as part of the IMF. I feel like the filmmakers forgot what made M3GAN a phenomenon, which is M3GAN. There’s too much setup for this complicated plot about rogue AI with government regulation and the introduction of new characters, and there’s not enough focus on M3GAN and her actions. When M3GAN does show up, she brings the humor and the energy this film needs because the movie drags up to that point. However, M3GAN doesn’t feel like the same character – she’s quippy, antagonistic to Gemma and bizarre, but she’s not threatening like she was in the original. This M3GAN is a retread that pales in comparison to the original.

In my opinion, this movie feels like a cash grab. They just plopped M3GAN into a big budget thriller with action sequences and comedic bits, but it has lost the integrity of why the sequel was created.

Ultimately, M3GAN 2.0 fails to recapture that special thing that made the first movie so popular. The setup for this movie drags and is overly complicated. It takes too long for M3GAN to show up, and it doesn’t feel like she’s the same character from the original. Despite some good one-liners from M3GAN, the rest of the movie around her is pretty boring. You can wait for this movie to stream with a handful of popcorn.