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Another week, another review that isn't a throwback. I promise I'll dive back into older movies here soon. There have just been some interesting, newer movies that hit some of my streaming platforms recently.
That includes 2025's "M3GAN 2.0" which is a sequel to a movie I reviewed in 2023.
"M3GAN" centered around an AI robot of the same name designed by Gemma (Allison Williams) as a way to help her balance her robotics career and parenting her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), whose parents had recently died in a car accident.
Soon enough, Gemma's good intentions involving artificial intelligence goes up in smoke when the super smart doll takes her main directive -- protect Cady -- too seriously. In a world where we're leaning a bit too much into the use of AI (my opinion of course) this franchise's warning about technology hits a bit close to home.
At the end of the first movie, we figure M3GAN has been destroyed and Gemma and Cady can move on with their lives, much closer than before thanks to the traumatic experience.
"M3GAN 2.0" proves that some things don't stay buried... or in this case out of your WiFi, TV and other devices.
When we catch up with Gemma and Cady, it's been a few years since their run-in with Megan. Gemma, though still trying to improve the world with technology, has begun to speak out against the dangers of artificial intelligence with love interest Christian (Aristotle Athari), who was a cyber security expert who seemed to see the error of his ways.
Meanwhile Cady is an angsty young teen trying to figure out the world. She and Gemma are far closer than they once were, but there's still friction with Cady's interests leaning towards the technological like her aunt's.
Tensions rise between the pair when the FBI busts down their door insinuating Gemma is the reason behind the sudden malfunction of its M3GAN-esque robot, AMELIA.
AMELIA, according to the feds, went rogue during a mission to rescue a scientist and seemed to be targeting tech billionaires and others. Though her mission is uncertain, those at the FBI are convinced Gemma is the reason, as AMELIA was based on her designs.
This, of course, confuses Gemma who had destroyed all traces of the robot's design after taking out the robot.
Don't fret though, turns out in the last two years M3GAN hadn't strayed far from Gemma and Cady.
She makes an appearance pretty early on, telling a skeptical Gemma she's grown and learned the error of her ways and notes she's the only one who can help her figure out AMELIA's plans and stop her murder spree.
Cue the buddy-cop movie featuring a jaded aunt and sassy robot you never knew you needed.
"M3GAN 2.0" was genuinely a lot more fun than the first. The first movie still featured a bit of a serious undertone and slasher-movie style kills.
This movie took a turn into government espionage and the dangers of the cloud, expanding the message from "perhaps AI is a danger to your personal life" to "AI could be a bit of a danger to the entire world."
M3GAN even gets a killer upgrade reminiscent of an 80s techno movie.
The lesson Gemma learns near the end of the movie was a bit suspect to me. But overall, as far as the plot goes, it's deeply entertaining in my book.
You get to enjoy sass and snark between Gemma and M3GAN; a heavy dose of teen angst and heart from Cady; and the comedic relief that is the concept of a robot gaining feelings and trying to help save the world.
If you enjoyed the first movie, I'd recommend checking out this one. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
"M3GAN 2.0" is available to stream on Netflix.
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Laura Jameson is Managing Editor of The Express.