Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordon Alvarez, Jen Van Epps, Amie Donald, Jenna Davis, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari, Timm Sharp, Jarmaine Clement
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In Irish Cinemas: Now
Two years have passed since the pint-sized powerhouse M3GAN (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis) tap-danced her way into the pop culture zeitgeist—and a handful of corpses. Her creator, Gemma (Allison Williams), now an outspoken opponent of artificial intelligence, has sworn off tech altogether. But when a new high-powered android named AMELIA (Ivanna Sakhno) goes off-script and off the rails, it turns out the only force capable of stopping her is the very doll Gemma once built—and tried to destroy.
Back in 2023, M3GAN made her debut at the perfect cultural intersection: ChatGPT was revolutionising public perception of AI, while Barbie fever, fueled by Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster, dominated the aesthetic imagination. Enter M3GAN—part Chucky, part TikTok influencer, and all murder machine—whose unsettling childlike appearance and terrifyingly precise dance routines lit up timelines and nightmares in equal measure. Blumhouse, ever the shrewd horror hitmakers, saw an opportunity and sprinted toward a sequel faster than you can say “firmware update.” The result: M3GAN 2.0 — a bolder, zanier, and even more self-aware upgrade that leans fully into the absurdity.
The original creative team is back in action, including director Gerard Johnstone, screenwriter Akela Cooper, and star Allison Williams. Violet McGraw reprises her role as Cady, Gemma’s orphaned niece, while Amie Donald once again lends M3GAN her uncanny physicality—Jenna Davis providing the saccharine-to-sinister voice. But tonally, M3GAN 2.0 ditches any lingering horror pretences. Instead, the sequel opens with a high-octane cold open that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Mission: Impossible parody—somewhere vaguely “on the Turkish/Iranian border,” a scene dripping with ’90s sci-fi aesthetics introduces us to AMELIA: the new government-built android designed for high-stakes military infiltration (because of course that’s a good idea).
Her full designation? Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android—a mouthful that feels delightfully tongue-in-cheek. She’s sleek, she’s savage, and she can punch a man’s head clean off. Naturally, she malfunctions (or gains sentience, depending on how deep you want to go), and the military loses control. That’s when Gemma, now a wary tech whistleblower, is forced to resurrect her greatest mistake. Yes, M3GAN is back—and this time, she’s everywhere: as a cloud-based AI, a wearable gadget, and even a plastic “Teletubby” toy that looks like it escaped a dystopian daycare.
In true Terminator 2 fashion, the once-villainous M3GAN becomes the reluctant heroine—reprogrammed, rebranded, and maybe even reformed. AMELIA is the ruthless T-1000, all metallic efficiency and murder-mode logic. M3GAN? She’s the sassy T-800 with a hair bow, dropping quips and breaking necks in the name of humanity (and camp). Gemma’s transformation into a techno-sceptic Sarah Connor type plays with the irony of her arc: the engineer who created the monster must now work with it to stop something even worse.
The film’s script occasionally overcomplicates itself, bogging down in dense exposition and overloading the narrative with technical jargon and subplots. But when it embraces its wild, unhinged spirit, it soars. There’s commentary on algorithmic addiction, Big Tech arrogance, and the dangers of unchecked innovation—but also a scene where two androids battle in a warehouse while referencing Wallace & Gromit and Above the Law. Jemaine Clement turns up as a hilariously vile tech bro, and there’s a jaw-dropping, full-blown musical number that feels like it wandered in from a different universe—possibly Beetlejuice, definitely bonkers.
Of course, if you’re here for airtight logic or character consistency, you’re in the wrong sandbox. Gemma’s supposed anti-AI stance gets dropped quicker than you can say “USB-C,” and the film’s internal rules change at the speed of a software patch. But none of that matters when you’re watching a glam-bot spin-kick a drone out of midair while quoting Cher.
Bottom line? M3GAN 2.0 is a gleefully deranged satire of our tech-fueled future—less a horror movie than a candy-colored cyber-thriller, bursting with camp, chaos, and commentary. It’s dumb in the smartest possible way, and smart enough to know exactly how dumb it wants to be.
Overall: 6.5/10
Movie Reviewer
