Escalation is expected in sequels, and director Ben Wheatley’s Meg 2: The Trench has all of the necessary ingredients. While its predecessor features a single Megalodon as the movie’s source of terror, the follow-up not only brings in multiple Megalodons, but opens up the deep sea trench from which they came and has even more prehistoric creatures escape up to our world. The stage is set for all kinds of aquatic mayhem with Jason Statham at the center of everything trying to save the day.
Release Date: August 4, 2023
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Written By: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris
Starring: Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, Sienna Guillory, and Cliff Curtis
Rating: PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, language and brief suggestive material
Runtime: 116 minutes
But that silly, explosive summer blockbuster cinematic experience is not what’s delivered. With a script that is all over the place, the movie does nothing particularly creative or compelling with its bigger monster roster (this sentiment very much includes monster vs. monster action), and what fun big shark action it does have is drowned out by overcooked non-Meg-related plotting that includes an illegal mining operation in the trench, a corporate mole, the resurfacing of an old enemy and more. There are ridiculous sequences that deliver what audiences are looking for – like Statham zipping around on a jet ski hurling explosive harpoons – but more often than not it feels like the film is just scrounging for what to do with its characters (and not nearly enough of the answers involve colossal, carnivorous fish).
Set a few years after the events of the previous adventure, Meg 2: The Trench catches up with Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) as he is engaged in espionage work, digging up evidence against a company that is illegally dumping radioactive materials… but that’s simply material to give the film an opening action sequence. He remains connected to the world of Megalodons thanks to Jiuming (Wu Jing), the brother of Li Bingbing's Suyin Zhang from the first movie – who is revealed to be dead – and the director of the Zhang Oceanic Institute. The institute houses the only Megalodon in captivity, but exploratory quests have continued to the titular deep sea landscape, and Jonas is invited to join Jiuming and his crew on a mission down to an unexplored sector.
Things get off on a bad foot when Jonas discovers that the curious young Meiying (Sophia Cai) –Suyin’s daughter and Jiuming’s niece – has stowed away on board his submarine, but things quickly get worse when the explorers discover a massive underwater installation. It turns out that an old nemesis of Jonas’ named Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) has been involved in an earth metals mining operation, and when he spots the institute’s subs coming, he sets off a massive explosion to avoid being caught. This not only has the effect of disabling the vehicles that Jonas and Jiuming are piloting, leaving them, their fellow scientists and Meiying stranded 25,000 feet underwater, but it also blasts a path of warm water through the thermocline that covers the trench and allows the monsters that dwell in the deep to swim toward the surface.
Were you hoping for prehistoric monster mayhem from Meg 2? Adjust your expectations.
Anyone who has ever seen a nature documentary about the depths of the ocean is aware of the bizarre entities that dwell there, molded by evolution in extreme conditions, and you’d think that Meg 2: The Trench would take advantage of that fact by populating the action with all varieties of freaky beings. Instead, the movie features a grand total of three – and that includes the Megalodon. In addition to the prehistoric sharks, there is a giant octopus (which simply parks itself in the marina of a resort in the third act and whips its tentacles around a bunch) and a herd of alligator-sized, sharp-toothed amphibian dinosaurs (which ends up being a crutch for the blockbuster because they terrorize characters on land and not just in/near water). It’s not so much a swing-and-a-miss as a caught-looking strikeout, as opportunity for silly and imaginative chaos is bypassed for action that ends up being monotonous. Unique beats are non-existent – minus a few excellent Statham-centric moments – and all feel too familiar from other likeminded blockbusters… including The Meg.
With underwhelming action, Meg 2's dull characters and plotting are even more noticeable.
These issues are is exacerbated by the fact that Meg 2: The Trench doesn’t really have anything going for it beyond its creature feature elements and the charisma of Jason Statham. It’s all plot and no story, as developments push the characters from scene to scene but – somewhat ironically – never offer any depth. With the exception of Page Kennedy’s DJ, an institute scientist who gets some redemption after being a punchline in the first film, none of the characters are provided with any kind of personality or quirk that individualize them, and they all speak with the same general voice. Meiying’s presence actually ends up being an essential part of the experience because her age and innocence provide the movie with its only source of personal stakes for the heroes.
Some might respond to this criticism by saying, “I don’t care about story and characters; I just want to be entertained by a big, dumb shark movie.” This isn’t an unreasonable take in the case of expectations for Meg 2, but the reality is that without anything encouraging audience investment, scenes between the set pieces get repetitive and dull.
Meg 2: The Trench wants to just be seen as dumb fun, but it doesn't earn it.
Featuring a sequence where a diving suit-less Jason Statham survives while swimming 25,000 feet underwater, Meg 2: The Trench clearly isn’t designed as a film that is meant to be taken too seriously… but it’s not fun enough to earn that complacency. The movie’s predecessor made that expectation work, albeit with significant issues of its own. But the sequel promises too much and under-delivers, and that disappointment sticks with you as you make your way out of the theater.
