M3gan 2.0 (Gerard Johnstone, 2025) & M3gan (Gerard Johnstone, 2022)

The killer doll is back: action sci-fi comedy M3gan 2.0 is the kind of bigger, bolder sequel, that, quality notwithstanding, at times forgets what made the original horror comedy special.

Not to be overly dramatic, but written and directed by Gerard Johnstone (M3gan), from a story by Johnstone and original writer Akela Cooper, M3gan 2.0 wants to be The Terminator 2 so bad, that it must have hurt a little bit while making it.

Granted, the original M3gan (2022) was the kind of horror comedy that wanted to both thrill you and amuse you in equal measures. Whereas ‘this bitch’ (word choice absolutely intended!) takes both itself and the dangers of AI to the world a lot more serious, even if it still has a lot of feisty one-liners to spare. Also, it doesn’t get bogged down as much as, say, the latest Mission Impossible movie. But that would be, well, nearly impossible.

Allison Williams returns as ‘moderately attractive’ (per the script) roboticist Gemma, who sometimes dresses as a ‘Portuguese prostitute’, but spends most of her time warning us about the dangers of generative AI and the possibility of an AI takeover.

She obtained this wisdom by first inventing a M3gan (Model 3 Generative Android) as a trustworthy companion for her sad and lonely niece Cody (Violet McGraw) who lost both parents in a horrible car crash.

After M3gan (played by Amie Donald, voice by Jenna Davis) went batshit crazy - and killed four people while doing a meme worthy little dance - Gemma then wrote a book about it. This led to both multiple appearances on talkshows and a budding friendship with a fellow AI expert (Aristotle Athari). Her team, consisting of bubbling and sharp Tess (Jen van Epps) and the long suffering Cole (Brian Jordan Alavarez) are also there.

With M3gan kept on file somewhere, Gemma is shocked to learn that there is a new military robot called Amelia (autonomous military engagement logistics and infiltration android) on the loose, planning, you guessed it, the ultimate AI Takeover, in which Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno) will emerge as the dominant form of intelligence on earth and take control away from us humans. Yes, Amelia is, indeed, ‘that bitch!’

Or to rephrase these immortal words from The Terminator: ‘Amelia can’t be reasoned with. She doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And she absolutely will not stop… ever, until you are dead!’

With these stakes firmly put in place, it is only a matter of time before Amelia and a reconfigured M3gan will girl boss it out, and you can rest assured that, as the movie lasts two hours, a lot of stuff will happen in between as well.

The horror elements are basically gone, the science fiction and action comedy elements more emphatically there. Teenage Cody is more part of the action this time around, which is cool. Gemma not only tries to work on her relationship with Cody, who she now clearly sees as a daughter, but also on the one with M3gan, which slowly but surely morphs into the kind of back and forth that Eddie Brock has with Venom.

I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to tell you that, in the end, M3gan becomes foxy Gemma’s alter ego, with the latter not only letting her hair down but finally getting the chance to kick some righteous ass too.

I enjoyed most of this movie, maybe also because it is so clearly inspired by other films that I love. (The influences from Weird Science and War Games are very much still there.)

Still, I would have to admit that I liked the first one a little better. The first M3gan reinvented the whole Child’s Play franchise and turned it into something else instead. It was also a masterclass in ‘less is more’ contained story telling.

M3gan 2.0 is a fun take on The Terminator 2, but that movie is a masterpiece and I would be fooling myself if told you that M3gan 2.0 works on that level.

Still, the bigger budget is on the screen and despite one serious drag around the 100 minutes mark - when subtext suddenly becomes text in a new round of superfluous exposition - the movie rocks its credo that this time round more is, indeed, more.

I give it 3 1/2 stars.

Note: M3gan 2.0 is released this week in most parts of the world.

Bonus review:

M3gan (Gerard Johnstone, 2022)

M3gan is a delightful little horror thriller, that lives up to the hype.

The movie obviously takes its cue from the Child’s Play-movies. It even looks like an eighties thriller.

For those who haven’t followed the news or seen the memes, which made sure the character became popular before the movie’s released: M3gan is a doll. A killer doll, even though it takes a while before she actually starts killing.

(This movie is actually fine for scaredy cats. It contains some violence, especially towards the end, but the gore content is so slight it is almost non-existent. If you don’t like that, well there is always Terrifier 2…)

M3gan is about an inventor whose invention takes over the story. In this case the inventor, robotics engineer Gemma, is played by Allison Williams, who is best known for her work in Girls and Get Out and also serves as an executive producer.

Williams is excellent as Gemma, who has to become a mother for her niece Cady (Violet McGraw), when the girl’s parents are killed in a car accident.

Gemma is a career woman, a scientist, who wants to do the right things, but is somewhat lacking in social skills. So she invents a new toy for Cady, to keep her busy.

At first, it seems to work. The life-like doll (played by Amie Donald and voiced by Jenna Davis) makes Cady happy. Gemma’s boss is also happy: he wants to start mass production on M3gan in time for the holiday season.

But then M3gan starts to develop a mind of her own and... well, I think you can guess which way the story is going. The plot is fairly predictable from here on out, but I like the fact that all the main characters are women, which makes it kind of a feminist horror movie, even though I’m not sure if it was meant to be.

Apart from that, the movie doesn’t really break new ground. I think everyone will agree that technology can be dangerous if it is not used properly.

But as it is, I think the creators - producers James Wan and Blumhouse, writer Akela Cooper and director Gerard Johnstone - just wanted to have fun with its high concept, which is also reminiscent of movies like War Games (1983) and Weird Science (1985).

And I think that’s fine. McGraw is great as a kid who is on the one hand still deep in mourning but at the same time open for new adventures.

And M3gan is puppet, who realizes she doesn’t want to be a puppet anymore. Which is always a good thing.

Slight spoiler: I think the movie could have been scarier if the creators had decided to turn Gemma into a villain. But I’m glad they didn’t. The choice they made keeps the story more grounded and human.

I’ve always been ambivalent about all the Child’s Play and Chucky-sequels, because most of them have not been very good. But I’d like to see more of M3gan.

I give it four stars!

Note: M3gan is available to stream on various platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Rakuten TV and Google Play Films.