M3GAN 2.0 Review: Robot Horror Franchise Forgets What It Is Meant to Be

October 13, 2025

Title: M3GAN 2.0

Director: Gerard Johnstone Sequel to: M3GAN (2023)

Release Date: June 27, 2025

Look, almost everyone wanted a sequel to this hit horror movie from 2 years ago, but that does not mean it is going to be that good. We were going to be hyped for a sequel only to realize that the reviews convince us to watch it on streaming instead of at theaters. Today's movie is M3GAN 2.0, the sequel to Blumhouse's robot horror movie, M3GAN. Made with a budget of approximately $15-$25 million, the movie received a box office gross of $39.1 million. Critics were mixed about the shift from horror to action, but audiences praised its hyped mixture of action and campy humor. Thanks to having no horror chip in its code, M3GAN 2.0 is a marketing tactic that slays less than its first model.

Summary

"Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous rampage, its creator, Gemma, has become an advocate for government oversight of AI. Unbeknownst to her, a defense contractor has created a military-grade weapon known as Amelia, the ultimate infiltration spy. However, as Emlia's self-awareness increases, it becomes less interested in taking orders. Hoping to stop Emilia, Gemma decides to resurrect M3GAN, making it faster, stronger, and more lethal." - Google

Reasons
The worst bugs of M3GAN 2.0 are the genre shift, failed messaging, and reliance on fanservice. To get the big machine out of the room, this sequel changed the franchise genre from horror to action. It should have been horror because M3GAN herself was scary in the first place. Making her the villain for the second time is not that difficult to write out. Even if this movie is right about AI, the message is poorly executed. Yes, using AI as a full-on replacement is definitely unethical, but it is not the devil either because it can be used as research and help. In here, it paints AI as if it's something we cannot survive without, and people are calling it pro-AI propaganda. As the final marketing tool, the movie heavily relies on fan service to distract. Instead of exploring new ideas or even making new jokes, it tends to lean on its iconic moments and TikTok trends. A good way to say this is that it is more of a highlight reel compilation than an actual movie with meaning.
Other bugs in M3GAN 2.0 are the shallow plot, plot holes, and mediocre pacing. The idea of a bad robot redeeming itself to fight a new bad robot is basically the plot of Terminator 2. None of the characters' motivations are justified enough to push the story forward. Compared to the original movie, it had a simple but scary plot that was ten times more enjoyable. Next up, it also has plot holes without any written or oral explanation. You can tell that M3GAN transferred her code into Gemma's smart home using an unknown way. Fortunately, the holes are subtle, but that one example I mentioned shows the lazy writing. As the last bug, the pacing is uneven for its runtime. It stands as a 2-hour movie that focuses more on the family than on M3GAN herself. The rest are subplots, twists, and action to fill up the story to a feature-length requirement.
M3GAN 2.0 may have fumbled in its storytelling, but its key upgrades are the CGI, action, and camp humor. The CGI is impressive in comparison to the original movie. M3GAN was made using live-action, animatronics, stunts, and CGI to result in a more stylish robot. On the opposition, AMELIA also has a solid design because of the detailed CGI for her glowing eyes and mecha body. Another key standout is the well-choreographed action. If you just watch it for the battles, then it is a good movie for you. Although the genre shift was on purpose, the movie created many stunts to result in an awesome experience. Finally, the camp humor is still as sharp as that from the first movie. Unlike its plot, they are not lazily written puns or TikTok references. The funny one-liners are iconic, so it is clever to make M3GAN keep them in her personality.

Conclusion

Because Universal made a continuation as a marketing push, M3GAN 2.0 cannot slay as much as the first one did in the past. It was a planned cash grab on a meme that blew up on TikTok. If the franchise returned to the horror genre, this sequel would have made so much more money, like as much as 28 Years Later. One day, Blumhouse will realize that it needs to step up instead of scrolling on M3GAN's TikTok tag. If you like watching horror movies on Peacock, just go for the original movie instead of its sequel, because M3GAN's first appearance is what we wanted this remodel to be.

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