M3GAN 2.0 Review - An R-rated franchise stuck in a PG-13 body

Chase Gifford
Jun 25
4 min read

“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” - Eliezer Yudkowsky

I can’t recall their name but I recently heard a famous actress talk about what gets made, what doesn’t and why. She spoke on the idea of risk and risk aversion and said that far too many people who don’t even like movies have the power to decide what gets made and what never sees the light of day. Heads of studios, purely business oriented people without a creative bone in their bodies somehow have the say-so over ultimate approval.

Hollywood is a business, I understand this. But never taking a risk creates this uninspired landscape of countless sequels, remakes and a way of thinking that nostalgia is the only thing that sells tickets. I enjoy going back as much as the next millennial but as with all things, it’s about moderation. When you focus on what was, you lose sight of what could have been.

In 2022, Blumhouse explored the potential horrors of Artificial Intelligence run amok with the James Wan produced, M3GAN. It’s a perfectly fine, mediocre horror-ish action comedy that has its merits. It is a movie that doesn’t quite beg the question of why it was made but it’s snuggled up right against the exact point. I would almost prefer a movie that was flat out terrible than this whole mess of, “Well, it was this, but never quite this but certainly found its audience with this all while hoping for the best with this idea or that idea but never this idea.” It’s all so incoherent, an incomplete train of thought from a movie as equally conceptualized. It made me chuckle but it also left me as indifferent, as unprovoked as the movie itself. I could recall better if the first stuck with me as one of the worst of its release year or as a wonderful and surprising release. Instead the best I can say about the first is I saw it.

Now in 2025 it’s happening again and it’s kind of the same result. It’s M3GAN 2.0 but feels a lot like the first version but with even less identity. Despite its PG-13 rating, the first still provides a horror-esque tech-thriller experience. It has slasher elements although quite watered down but I’ll get to that soon.

2.0 takes any semblance of horror and eliminates it for what is ultimately an action comedy. But much like the first, it isn’t bad nor is it very good. No preferential treatment here with a more decisive outright terrible result or a surprisingly refreshing sequel that I couldn’t recommend enough. No, instead it’s as middle-of-the-road as movies like this tend to be. Much like myself sitting in the theater wondering what kind of movie this was trying to be, the movie itself was wondering the very same thing. It has no real identity to appreciate or loathe. Nothing to latch on for any positive or negative reasons. This is one of the most “January in June” releases I’ve ever seen.

As I was walking into the theater I saw a huge display for the upcoming animated sequel, Bad Guys 2. And for some reason I immediately thought of the Dan Trachtenberg directed film, Prey. Here you have a movie that absolutely should have received a theatrical release only to be shown the straight-to-Hulu treatment. A borderline tragedy. Then I think about the significance of the first Bad Guys or lack thereof as it basically passed through its initial release window with the impact of a whimper. And yet here I am looking at a theatrical release for its sequel. A sequel no one asked for getting the theatrical treatment makes my head hurt.

No offense to the creators of both Bad Guy features but of these three films – Bad Guys, Bad Guys 2, and Prey, which of these makes the most sense with a theatrical release? I can understand the first as an unchecked original but with the sequel I can’t fathom the reasoning. Maybe it was more successful than I realize. Who knows?

And so I return to the topic at hand, another perplexing sequel to a mediocre release, M3GAN 2.0. It made me giggle at times but that’s mostly where it worked best. When it comes to the main storyline, a story of dangerous A.I. and what it might look like in the form of a rebellious, anti-authority robot it falters fantastically. The action or more succinctly the violence, as is the case with the first, is remarkably neutered under a glaring, painfully obvious PG-13 rating. You can feel the forced restraint at practically every turn. When Die Hard deteriorated into a PG-13 shell of its former self, I was hoping this franchise would do the same thing just in the other direction from PG-13 to a much needed R rating but here we are with another watered down, visually stunted thriller that completely loses its horror identity. This is a buddy cop movie with robots and little girls. It’s another story of unchecked megalomania wreaking havoc, a concept we are all experiencing in real time.

I’ll be honest, I don’t have a lot to say about this one. I don’t care enough (It’s my job, I should care regardless. Sorry.) It’s fun at times, funny quite often and meandering at other times. The Megan character is sassier than ever and more conniving in a more dangerous form. Their adversary is a front for more shadowy entities that refuse to yield in the face of overwhelming warnings to stop what they refuse to relinquish.

Nothing about it stands out as a highlight or a blasphemously terrible sequence. I watched it, it happened and then it was over. I think I can say, if you enjoy the first, you’ll see the strengths of its follow up but don’t expect the great sequel of 2025. I wish it evoked more intense emotions either way, good or bad. This lukewarm result is, well, boring.