Two years ago, Gemma (Allison Williams, Get Out, Girls) had created a robotic friend M3gan (Amie Donald, voice Jenna Davis) for her niece/daughter Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House), but M3gan misread her objective to keep Cady from harm, going on a murderous protection spree. In the end, Gemma believed she had destroyed the hard drive containing all of M3gan’s specs, and that all of this was behind her. Over the past 2 years she wrote a parenting book, and now runs a new tech company from her home along with former coworkers (and near-victims of M3gan) Tess (Jen Van Epps) & Cole (Brian Jordan Alvarez, English Teacher). She also lectures about the importance of disconnecting from technology and promoting its safe use, and her boyfriend Christian (Aristotle Athari, SNL, Hacks) runs a foundation teaching people the dangers of A.I.

Gemma soon discovers that a defense contractor managed to get ahold of M3gan’s blueprints and has built an even deadlier robot named AMELIA (Autonomous Military Engagement and Infiltration Android), which they sold to the military as a new weapon. However, during a demonstration of her abilities, Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno, Ahsoka, Pacific Rim: Uprising) went rogue, and is now on her own mission to release a God-like A.I. to take over the world. Her first stop is to obtain access to cloud servers owned by eccentric billionaire tech mogul (and all-around sleazeball) Alton Appleton (Jemaine Clement, Avatar: The Way of Water, What We Do in the Shadows).

Meanwhile, Gemma learns that M3gan might not be as dead as she thought. Her creation has been lingering and watching her for the past 2 years, and now insists that she is reformed. M3gan tells Gemma that she needs her help if she’s going to stop Amelia. Gemma reluctantly agrees to resurrect M3gan, giving her a new body, and upgrading her with even more powerful skills (but with the same sarcastic sense of humor and attitude). As Gemma’s misfit team works to take down Ameila and save the world, they are pursued by Colonel Agent Sattler (Timm Sharp, Apples Never Fall, Percy Jackson and the Olympians) of the Army’s Defense Innovation Unit, who believes that Gemma was the one who unleased Amelia. Can they stop this evil A.I. assassin run amok before it’s too late?! Things ultimate builds to a fierce faceoff between the two robotic A.I.s as M3gan tries to prove that she is no longer a villain, but now the hero.

The same team from the original M3GAN film is back for this sequel. However, while the first film was a horror movie, this film goes for a completely different tone/genre. The humor has been amped up, making this more of an action/comedy. It even has elements of a spy thriller, with the film’s opening sequence dubbed as M3gan: Impossible by the film’s producers. When I first saw this movie in the theater, I had avoided the trailers so I was unaware of the tonal switch and was a bit surprised/disappointed. But going into it this second time around, aware of that major change, I just sat back and enjoyed the fun of it all.

M3GAN 2.0 still has a lot of killing and a bit of gore, but it leans heavily into the humor. M3gan is sarcastic and witty, and a lot of fun to watch. There’s one scene where she apologizes to Cole for trying to kill him in the first movie and tells him “I see you”, that had me laughing out loud. She’s ditched her iconic Victorian doll look for something slightly more modern, but she still feels very much like the same M3gan. She also has some great fight sequences, especially when she faces off with Amelia. Speaking of Amelia, Ivanna Sakhno is excellent and menacing in this role, making a worthy new villainous A.I. for the characters to go up against.

This second film also feels a bit bigger in scope, expanding the action to several new locations with some really well-designed and interesting sets. Despite the tonal change, they’ve also managed to bring back some of the things that made the first film so iconic (there’s a fun new variation on the dance sequence, and a very odd moment with M3gan breaking into a Kate Bush song). 12-year-old Cady also gets more to do in this film—in her mother’s efforts to reduce her screen time, she took up Aikido, which ends up coming in handy several times. Gemma, Tess & Cole make a hilarious misfit trio trying to save the world, and new characters like Agent Sattler and Alton Appleton also add a lot of humor to film. The character of M3gan also feels further evolved this time around—at one point M3gan, the world’s most notorious robot, has to try to pass herself off as a human dressed as a robot, while sneaking into an A.I. convention. The movie finds a nice blend between the humor and the action, and ultimately builds to an exciting final face-off.

The release includes both the PG-13 Theatrical version of the film as well as a new Unrated version. However, the runtime difference is less than a minute. There are just little things added here and there, such as body parts flying or a few seconds of blood and gore. In the cold open sequence in the theatrical version, one of Amelia’s kills is only seen in reflective shadows, but in the unrated version there is also a quick shot of a severed head dropping into a stock pot. It’s just minor 1 or 2 second items like that added throughout the film, so not any major story or plot changes.

Universal has released M3GAN 2.0 on 4K UHD SteelBook, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and digital. We received the Blu-ray release for review, and it looks and sounds great. The picture looks fantastic, with bright beautiful colors, especially the neon glow of the A.I. convention. It looks so crisp, clean, and full of detail that I can’t imagine the 4k version looking that much better. The audio prestation is also wonderful, making excellent use of the surround channel to provide a fully-immersive experience, whether it be the ambiance of the crowd at Appleton’s party or at the A.I. convention, or just the general sounds of explosions and guns filling the room. Dialogue is also clear throughout.

The Blu-ray release includes a single disc, which resides in standard HD keepcase, along with an embossed carboard slipcover, and an insert containing a code to redeem for an HD Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film. The disc also contains over 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast/crew.

What’s Included:

Film: (Theatrical: 1:59:58, Unrated: 2:00:48)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service), Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, French 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital (code may not be valid after 9/30/2026):

• HD Digital Copy of Theatrical Vversion (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:
Play All, or select from:

• Unrated Version (2:00:48)
  Selectable on disc or in the extras on digital, the film has been upgraded with enhanced kills and more blood and carnage.
• Total Upgrade: Making M3GAN 2.0 (11:19)
  The cast and crew talk about the character of M3GAN going from villain to hero in the second movie, the new characters/cast, the larger environment, the sets, M3GAN’s lair, the costumes, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/executive producer/co-writer Gerard Johnstone, producers Jason Blum & James Wan, executive producers Judson Scott & Adam Hendricks, production designers Brendan Heffernan & Adam Wheatley, costume designer Jeriana San Juan, costume props technician Andrew Hooper, and actors Allison Williams (producer/”Gemma”), Jen Van Epps (“Tess”), Violet McGraw (“Cady”), Brian Jordan Alvarez (“Cole”), Aristotle Athari (“Christian”), Ivanna Sakhno (“Amelia”) & Amie Donald (“M3gan”).
• Droid DNA (7:39)
  The cast and crew talk about designing and bringing the Mech M3gan and the animatronic M3gan 2.0 to life, the robotic Amelia, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/executive producer/co-writer Gerard Johnstone, tech standby props Felix Becroft, animatronics and puppets technician Harry Caspian, associate producer Kathy Tse (Morot FX Studio), producers Jason Blum & James Wan, animatronics lead Mark Setrakian, executive producer Judson Scott, movement coach Luke Hawker (“Agent Murphy”), and actors Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Jen Van Epps, Amie Donald, Aristotle Athari, Ivanna Sakhno & Brian Jordan Alvarez,
  
• The Art of Slaying (8:06)
  The cast and crew discuss the film’s action sequences and stunts, some of the bloodier moments of the unrated version, a look at how some of the bloodier and more gruesome moments were created, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/executive producer/co-writer Gerard Johnstone, stunt coordinator Isaac Hamon, Amelia contortionist double Regina Hegemann, producers James Wan & Jason Blum, movement coach Luke Hawker, key makeup effects artist Jason Docherty, and actors Allison Williams, Ivanna Sakhno, Amie Donald, Violet McGraw, Aristotle Athari, Jen Van Epps & Brian Jordan Alvarez.
  
• Scene Breakdown: Embrace AI Convention (5:04)
  The cast and crew talk about creating the the A.I. convention set, the costumes, creating a new dance, the challenges of filming the attack sequence, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/executive producer/co-writer Gerard Johnstone, production designer Brendan Heffernan, supervising location manager Rick Waite, director of photography Toby Oliver, extras casting coordinator Amber Smith, costume designer Jeriana San Juan, movement coach Luke Hawker, cast trainer Michelle Goh & stunt coordinator Isaac Hamon, and actors Allison Williams, Ivanna Sakhno, Aristotle Athari, Jen Van Epps & Timm Sharp (“Agent Sattler”).
  

Final Thoughts:

M3gan 2.0 is a fun follow-up to the first film, but takes a major shift in tone that may upset some fans. I found it more enjoyable the second time around when I knew it was going to be more of an action/comedy and wasn’t expecting another horror movie. It’s an interesting decision to take the villain from the first movie and make her the hero in the sequel, but I thought it ultimately worked. In addition to some really humorous moments, there is also still a lot of great action and fight sequences. The Unrated cut doesn’t add anything major, just a few seconds of some more graphical content inserted here and there. Universal’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and includes an entertaining assortment of behind-the-scenes featurettes. The film is worth checking out for M3gan fans who don’t mind the shift way from horror. Those who still don’t want to do a blind buy can check out the film on Peacock when it begins streaming there on September 26.