M3GAN 2.0 Reviews Liken Sequel to Terminator 2, Mission: Impossible

The first M3GAN 2.0 reviews are coming online, and it sounds like this is one sequel that Blumhouse should have tried turning off and on again. Producers James Wan and Jason Blum booted up a box office hit and social media sensation with the Gerard Johnstone-directed M3GAN, the PG-13 killer doll horror that was as campy as it was creepy: M3GAN grossed $182 million at the global box office when it hit theaters in January 2023.

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The first film followed toy company roboticist Gemma (Get Out‘s Allison Williams) and her niece, Cady (The Haunting of Hill House‘s Violet McGraw), who survived playtime with the M3GAN — Model 3 Generative ANdroid — prototype, a lifelike doll programmed with AI to be a child’s companion. In the sequel, again directed by Johnstone, Gemma and Cady are forced to bring an upgraded M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) back online in order to stop rogue AI robot Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno).

So, is M3GAN 2.0 an upgrade over the first, or a downgrade? Critics’ reviews are mixed, as the film currently sits with a 62 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes (a “fresh” score, but down from the original’s 93 percent).

A reason for the split in opinion seems to be a shift in genres, with critics pointing out that the first M3GAN was a campy horror-comedy closer in spirit to the Child’s Play/Chucky movies, whereas M3GAN 2.0 is an action movie akin to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. See excerpts from around the Internet below.

Associated Press: “Most of the same team that gave us the refreshing horror-comedy original two years ago have not only gone super-big, but also changed the franchise’s genre, turning M3GAN 2.0 into an action movie with two AI robots, two villains, FBI units, wingsuits, neural implants, a Mission: Impossible-style vault heist, exosuits, a 250-mph street chase in a supercar, a power grid disaster, a countdown clock, the United Nations and the fate of the planet at stake … What you won’t get is much of the vibe of the original, which fused horror, cultural commentary and humor. This time, that’s muted in favor of an overly ambitious, horribly convoluted plot that sometimes feels like the moviemakers just threw money at the sequel and tried to ape other franchises by going massive.”

Entertainment Weekly: “The actual plot of this movie is confusing and idiotic (I really had no idea what the main baddie was trying to accomplish), but luckily, this is not an obstacle to having fun. As far as the action is concerned, Gerard Johnstone clearly worships at the altar of Sam Raimi, and while nothing quite reaches his level of visual punch, there’s a lot more creativity here than in typical mid-budget Hollywood fare. (There’s also a clever homage to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis for the hardcore cinephiles.)”

The Hollywood Reporter: “The campy sense of mischief that made Gerard Johnstone’s 2023 hit M3GAN so enjoyable asserts itself intermittently in M3GAN 2.0, a logical title for a follow-up to the thriller about a murderous robot. But the humor is forced to compete with seriously overcomplicated plotting in a sequel that entangles its horror comedy roots with uninspired espionage elements, becoming a convoluted mishmash with shades of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Mission: Impossible and the Austin Powers franchise. There are amusing moments reminiscent of the original, but in terms of tone and coherence, the movie loses its way.”

Empire Magazine: “The canny producers at horror specialists Blumhouse have wasted no time in speeding to market a top-to-bottom hardware and software update, and happily, 2.0 is just as ridiculously entertaining as the prototype … M3GAN 2.0 is more absurd, self-aware silliness: a riot of timely tech paranoia, with almost no horror but a ton of successful comedy. Slay, queen!”

Variety: “M3GAN 2.0 is a competent but cumbersome overelaboration of the M3GAN concept. There are a handful of the moments you want — like M3GAN literally dancing the robot onstage, or a climactic fight that turns on the worship of Steven Seagal, or the absurdity of M3GAN soothing Gemma by singing Kate Bush’s ‘This Woman’s Work.’ But that may not be enough. M3GAN 2.0 is amusing at moments, overblown at others. Here’s hoping that M3GAN 3.0 is brasher, funkier, crazier.”

Slant Magazine: “Imagine John Waters at the helm of a Terminator 2 remake and you have an inkling of just how wild a pivot M3GAN 2.0 is from its predecessor. If anything, writer-director Gerard Johnstone’s sequel has more in common with the last two Mission: Impossible films than the original M3GAN. Even then, it’s doubtful we’ll ever see Tom Cruise trapped in a sentient smart speaker telling the IMF to ‘hold onto their vaginas’ before taking off in a futuristic sports car after a murderbot at 235 miles per hour while the Knight Rider theme plays. Yes, M3GAN has gotten an upgrade from horror to sci-fi action, and the sequel also has a lot more on its mind. Understandable, really, since in only three short years since the original film’s release, A.I. has infected nearly every facet of our lives, and even the first film now has moments that now scan as eerily ominous. That’s a fact that M3GAN 2.0’s story isn’t blind to.”

IndieWire: “Johnstone steers the murderous android into a muddy redemption arc just as he forces the franchise to abruptly switch genres. Swapping out scares for action beats, that unexpected approach creates a colorful techno-apocalypse with admirable ambitions aimed at something like ‘Terminator II — for Girls!’ Still, it lacks life. Johnstone loses his way, taking over writing the script from the wonderfully funny Akela Cooper (Malignant). She created the first M3GAN with James Wan and has a story credit on the sequel. Her wickedly dark humor lives on in M3GAN’s vicious one-liners, even as Johnstone’s exposition-heavy script drags the story down.”

Here’s the logline: “Two years after M3GAN, a marvel of artificial intelligence, went rogue and embarked on a murderous (and impeccably choreographed) rampage and was subsequently destroyed, M3GAN’s creator Gemma (Williams) has become a high-profile author and advocate for government oversight of A.I. Meanwhile, Gemma’s niece Cady (McGraw), now 14, has become a teenager, rebelling against Gemma’s overprotective rules. Unbeknownst to them, the underlying tech for M3GAN has been stolen and misused by a powerful defense contractor to create a military-grade weapon known as Amelia (Sakhno), the ultimate killer infiltration spy. But as Amelia’s self-awareness increases, she becomes decidedly less interested in taking orders from humans. Or in keeping them around. With the future of human existence on the line, Gemma realizes that the only option is to resurrect M3GAN (Donald, Davis) and give her a few upgrades, making her faster, stronger, and more lethal. As their paths collide, the original A.I icon is about to meet her match.”

M3GAN 2.0 sashays into theaters on June 27.