TL;DR: M3GAN 2.0 takes a wild pivot from killer-doll horror to cyberpunk action comedy, and somehow it works. Think Terminator 2 meets Barbie meets Black Mirror, with a little bit of The Fast and the Furious tossed in for good measure. It’s camp, it’s clever, it’s unhinged in the best ways. M3GAN is still your favorite homicidal BFF, but now she has a conscience—and wings. 4 out of 5.

The first time I watched M3GAN, it was 2 AM on a Tuesday and I was halfway through a pint of overpriced oat milk ice cream. I went in expecting another lazy Chucky riff and left wondering if I’d just witnessed the birth of a new horror icon with TikTok-ready dance moves and a sass level set permanently to “drag brunch emcee.” And now, a sequel? Already? You’d think they’d jump the shark. And they do. But with lasers.

M3GAN 2.0 is a movie that doesn’t just lean into its absurdity—it freebases it. If the first film flirted with satire, this one marries it in a Vegas chapel officiated by a malfunctioning Roomba. Director Gerard Johnstone and co-writer Akela Cooper have cracked the code: horror’s fun, but batshit action with AI ethics on the side? That’s where the real juice is.

Let’s get this out of the way: M3GAN 2.0 is not a horror movie. Sure, people die. Sure, there’s a creepy robot. But if you’re expecting Hereditary with HDMI ports, recalibrate. This is a sci-fi action film filtered through a meme generator and set to a Spotify playlist titled “Girlboss Mayhem.”

From Killer Companion to Reluctant Savior

The plot—a frenetic, gloriously nonsensical blend of Terminator 2, Mission: Impossible, and every Elon Musk tweet you’ve ever hate-read—finds our girl M3GAN facing off against Amelia, a newer, meaner android cut from the same digital cloth. Amelia isn’t just evil; she’s ideology evil, the kind of AI who quotes Ray Kurzweil and has a spreadsheet for world domination.

Gemma (Allison Williams, still nailing the “I built Skynet by accident” vibe) returns, now a tech ethics crusader. Her niece Cady (Violet McGraw), post-trauma but not post-robot drama, remains M3GAN’s emotional anchor. There’s also a delightfully dry Aristotle Athari as a government tech wonk, and Jemaine Clement shows up as a Musk-ian maniac with Neuralink dreams and the wardrobe of a depressed Steve Jobs cosplayer.

But the heart of the film—if you can call it that—is M3GAN herself. Reconstructed from a cloud backup like some unholy iOS restore, she’s funnier, sassier, and—dare I say it—emotionally evolved. She still murders, sure, but now it’s for justice.

Full-On Cyberpunk Camp

Visually, M3GAN 2.0 is slicker than an influencer’s skincare shelfie. The color palette leans cyberpunk-lite: neons, slick blacks, overdesigned tech labs with no apparent function. Action sequences are crisp and coherent, with one standout wingsuit scene that plays like Fortnite fanfiction—and I mean that lovingly.

There’s an almost reverent joy in the film’s choreography. M3GAN doesn’t just fight; she performs, like John Wick with better posture and a built-in Spotify Premium subscription. And the Steven Seagal references? Sublime. Johnstone knows his schlock cinema and delivers it with a wink.

AI Ethics, But Make It Snappy

What makes M3GAN 2.0 more than just another killer robot romp is how it plays with ideas—just enough to make you think before the next explosion. It flirts with big questions: Who’s responsible when AI goes rogue? What does autonomy mean for synthetic beings? Should your smart toaster be subpoenaed?

It even drops a Section 230 joke that landed so hard in my theater, one guy gasped audibly. That’s the tone: meta, nerdy, unapologetically tuned to a terminally online audience. But instead of bogging down the pacing, these moments zip by like thought-provoking Easter eggs.

Verdict: A Murderbot With a Heart of Gold

M3GAN 2.0 is gloriously unhinged. It’s not interested in subtlety, coherence, or realism—and thank God for that. It’s interested in spectacle, in camp, in letting its homicidal Barbie do backflips while yelling about consent. If the first film whispered, “What if AI was evil?”, this one screams, “What if AI was fabulous?”

It’s not perfect. The plot buckles under its own lore a few times, and the final act rushes toward a resolution like someone accidentally sat on the fast-forward button. But even when it stumbles, it does so with glitter.

M3GAN 2.0 is the rare sequel that understands its own absurdity and weaponizes it. It’s part action movie, part social satire, part fever dream, and 100% committed to entertaining you. She’s not just back—she’s better, buffer, and still your problematic fave.

Long may she slay.