M3GAN 2.0? Steven says 3/5

When the original M3GAN was being promoted back in 2022, it was easy to dismiss it as another throwaway horror flick destined for the $5 bin at Target. With recent flops like Night Swim, Imaginary, and Afraid still haunting our memories, expectations were low. So imagine our collective shock when M3GAN turned out to be… good? Not just good, but campy, clever, and self-aware. Naturally, the announcement of M3GAN 2.0 came fast, and thank God.

Set two years after the events of the first film, 2.0 reunites us with Gemma and Cady, now stuck between navigating a god-tier AI uprising and deciding whether or not to rebuild the murder doll that traumatized them. The plot? Overcomplicated. The tone? A little all over the place. But the experience? Still a blast. If M3GAN was horror with a side of sass, 2.0 is a full-blown action-thriller with a heaping plate of camp.

Horror is barely the genre here. Instead, M3GAN 2.0 smartly pivots into action-thriller territory, giving the titular doll more stunts, more tech jargon, and even more moments that feel tailor-made for reaction gifs. And while the story may trip over its own wires, the film knows exactly who its audience is. The gays? Fed. The camp lovers? Thriving. The people who just want to watch a robot girlboss her way through chaos in a wig and pleated skirt? Ecstatic.

Is M3GAN 2.0 an objectively good movie? No. Not even close. But is it a good time? Absolutely. It’s dumb in all the right ways, funny when it shouldn’t be, and more than happy to play into what made. Bring on M3GAN 3.0. Make her gay. Make her fly. Make it weirder.

Curious about what else Steven is into? Get updates on shelf.im/stevenmorea