M3GAN 2.0 - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

When the first M3GAN (2022) came out, I heard a LOT of buzz about it. People were hyped. When I saw it a while after release, I was somewhat surprised: it was solid and very enjoyable, but not the kind of thing that I would get into such a tizzy about. Conversely, when the sequel dropped last year, I heard a much more modest even more negative responses, even though I thought M3GAN 2.0 took some real chances and actually deserved better buzz. I love a Big Swing, and turning your killer robot doll horror franchise into a Terminator 2: Judgment Day homage is a pretty big swing. Not to mention that it's done well.

But I'll back up. In the first film, we're introduced to Gemma (Allison Williams) and her recently orphaned niece Cady (Violet McGraw). Gemma works in tech, designing robotics operating systems and artificial intelligence, and she is woefully unprepared to care for a child, let alone a grieving one. To that end, she introduces Cady to M3GAN (Amie Donald & Jenna Davis), her Model 3 Generative Android prototype, and things follow the Child's Play type of villain progression over the course of the film, with M3GAN becoming murderously obsessed with her friendship with Cady before eventually barely being defeated by Gemma and some of her other robotics projects.

In M3GAN 2.0, the franchise transitions M3GAN from Chucky to Terminator-style anithero. A government kill-bot (based on Gemma's works) goes rogue, and eventually M3GAN is resurrected to help prevent it from achieving its ultimate goals, which, without spoilers, will be bad for everybody. This rogue kill-bot, AMELIA - Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android - (Ivanna Sakhno), is just as powerful, crafty, dangerous, and insane as M3GAN, but has the additional feature of: knowledge gleaned from hacking military databases. The plot ties in a pair of tech gurus (Jemaine Clement and Aristotle Athari, both approaching tech-bro douchebag performances from different angles and both doing a great job) and a shocking checklist of robotics & A.I. archetypes.

That aspect is one of my favorite things about the film: it functions almost like those multiverse / team-up films that are oh, so popular these days, but does so in a much smoother and, ironically, organic fashion. Across the film's run-time, these battling A.I. robots cross swords (only occasionally metaphorically) with exo suits, futuristic eye-phones, neural chips, smart homes and home assistants, smart cars, BattleBots-style animatronics, and even a cameo appearance from Microsoft Office Assistant mascot Clippy! In addition to the robotics role call I've just mentioned, the choreography is pretty fantastic. It approaches the brutality of something "serious" like Timo Tjahtjanto's The Night Comes for Us (2018) but keeps things poppy and accessible, like Timo Tjahtjanto's Nobody 2 (2025).

M3GAN, as a franchise, is focused on fun, and seems to approach that vague concept from a ''what's good for the goose is good for the gander'' perspective, changing things to take on grander ambitions and keeping the cast and crew on their toes in the hopes that if they're all enjoying making the film, we will enjoy watching it. While M3GAN 2.0 didn't make as big a splash as the original, it's an infinitely more unexpected turn that deserves to be experienced. I hope they still make more of these films, and I hope I never know what genre they're going to explore next.

Vital Disc Stats - The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
M3GAN 2.0 uploads to a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray set from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The 4K is pressed on a BD100 disc with a BD50 serving the 1080p offering. There's nothing to rave about in regards to the packaging here, but we shouldn't become so desensitized to reliable quality that we don't appreciate it. The discs come in a black HD Blu-ray case with a slipcover. The discs load to standard main menus with basic navigation options. 

The film looks fantastic in 2160p Dolby Vision (with HDR10). Colorful, well-balanced, and appropriately saturated, the look of M3GAN 2.0 is dark the way a carnival at night is. Lots of neon lighting (the tech convention sequence especially), sleek and shining design porn (the cars, the various buildings, etc.) abounds, but never at the expense of warmth or clarity. The visual clarity works for and against the film at times. The production of M3GAN 2.0 utilized a mixture of animatronics and CGI face-replacement (in correlation to body doubles) to bring the robotic characters of M3GAN and AMELIA to life, and at times, you can tell. The super-clean visuals leave little room for even the briefest trip to the Uncanny Valley. On the other end of things: M3GAN and AMELIA are both supposed to feel uncanny, so those moments never broke my immersion, but some of the visuals are just smoother than others. In a film working with the constraints that this is (it's not ''low-budget'' by any means, but for its budget, it's extremely ambitious), I think some rough edges are more than fair.

The Dolby Atmos sound mix on this Universal release is pretty tops by my reckoning. This will sound like a very silly sentence, but there are a lot of sounds in this film, by which I mean: a lot is done with sound here. Setting aside your garden-variety horror/action sonic choices--gunshots, yelling, combat, car engines, explosions, etc.--the M3GAN operating system hops between host systems a few different times, and sometimes these are audibly depicted via changes to her voice (notably, one feels like a direct homage to GLaDOS from the Portal games!) She also sings a version of Kate Bush's This Woman's Work in one hilariously bizarre moment, and there is a noted change in the sonorous quality of M3GAN's voice, which I think is a choice made in the world by M3GAN herself and not a mistake in the mixing. All dialogue was clear, and even the most sonically complex sequences always felt balanced, highlighting the appropriate aspects and allowing the story to continue smoothly.

With supplemental material, I'm always looking for things that add context to my filmgoing experience: stories about the making-of process, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and/or footage, explanations of the effects work and the other crafts that went into bringing this film (whatever it may be) to life. There's definitely some of that here, but in my opinion, not enough. For instance, I would have loved a lot more info on the BattleBots-style animatronic (mentioned above) that was constructed by prop master Nick Komornicki!

According to the Droid DNA featurette, that thing needed seven puppeteers to operate it at the time! I would happily have watched an hour on that process. I love practical effects, especially when they are used in conjunction with (not as a rough draft to be replaced by) computer-generated effects! I think that process is intellectually fascinating.

My blue-skying aside, I did enjoy the bonus features that are actually included. The action breakdown featurette (The Art of Slaying) was a lot of fun, and I'd happily have watched an hour of that as well. The downside of all of this - they're just short at a time when more would have been exciting to see. 

• Total Upgrade: Making M3GAN 2.0 (HD 11:19)
• Droid DNA (HD 7:39) 
• The Art of Slaying (HD 8:06)
• Scene breakdown: The Embrace A.I. Convention (HD 5:05)

As someone who saw Terminator 2 approximately 50 times before I finally saw the original, I will forgo my usual "...but make sure to watch the first film beforehand" caveat. I think M3GAN 2.0, as a movie, whips ass while still holding its own. In a cinematic field increasingly overcrowded with tired concepts and threadbare franchise installments, it's genuinely refreshing to see one that embraces fluidity and freedom to change. I could wax poetic about how that represents some of the themes, but that's not why you're here. If M3GAN 2.0 is your introduction to the franchise, you'll have a great time. But you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't eventually go back and watch the first one, if only to appreciate how brave a stylistic change this film is. But either way, I strongly recommend M3GAN 2.0 and hope for future installments. On 4K UHD, the film comes home with an excellent Dolby Vision and Atmos A/V pairing. Bonus features are interesting but unfortunately very brief - especially considering the topics they cover. Recommened