The big shark is back for another exciting bout with Jason Statham. Meg 2: The Trench dares to spend its first hour fumbling the easiest horror premise ever conceived before transitioning into its dull, repetitive status quo. With meaningless characters, terrible camerawork, abysmal dialogue, goofy science, the worst villains in modern cinema, and four or five decent shots, Meg 2 promises to fade from the audience's memory before the credits conclude.
Director Ben Wheatley steps into the seat previously filled by Jon Turteltaub. His experience with dark comedies like High Rise and Free Fire is wasted on a script by returning talents Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris. Steve Alten, the writer of the source material, maintains that his work belongs at the head of a billion-dollar franchise. Whether the sequel carries the surprise box-office success of the original remains to be seen.
Meg 2 heralds the long-awaited return of Jason Statham's sixth or seventh most beloved character, Jonas Taylor. He's exactly the same guy as Deckard Shaw, Lee Christmas, or Orson Fortune, except he's relegated to ocean-based adventures. Taylor's love interest, Suyin Zhang, wasn't so lucky. Her unspecified offscreen death leaves Taylor in the ever-popular reluctant grumpy dad role to 14-year-old Meiying. Taylor has become something of an eco-justice warrior, much to the chagrin of his co-workers. He and his old friends, Mac and DJ, are funded by a mysterious benefactor and given advanced technology by Meiying's uncle, Jiuming. With the new tech, the team returns to Mana-One to continue mapping out the titular trench.
Taylor and his crew discover a secretive mining operation at the bottom of the ocean just in time to suffer a massive explosion that leaves them stranded. The blast blows "a hole in the thermocline," enabling three megalodon sharks to slip through to the surface. The film weirdly spends a ton of time throwing science-adjacent words at the audience while hoping that no one knows what any of them mean. Jonas and his friends swiftly discover that their benefactor is the head of the mining operation, using Jiuming's innovations to plunder the sea for profit. Faced with a villain straight out of Captain Planet and her single-minded henchman, Taylor and his allies must escape the bottom of the ocean and fight several large sea creatures to save the day.
The three-act structure of Meg 2 is strange. Its overlong runtime is packed with unnecessary scenes. The first act is spent on dull conversations, setting up concepts that don't pay off, and barely acknowledging key details. The second act takes place in the trench, which should be innately horrific. It's the bottom of the ocean. Anyone who has seen the monstrosities that develop in the high-pressure environment miles below sea level knows how nightmarish they can be. The dark, cold, unforgiving ocean floor is wasted on bad dialogue, mediocre CGI, and embarrassing jump scares. The setting works against the cinematography, making it impossible to follow what's going on and which characters are still alive. Finally, the film travels to a populated resort island to deliver on the audience's expectations. The third act reheats sections of the first film with all of its problems intact. A giant squid and some land-dwelling dinosaurs enter the fray, but they barely spice up the proceedings. It's all just so much less than the sum of its parts. It looks, sounds, and feels like a movie that teenagers in a sitcom are excited to see.
One would think a film built entirely around a big shark would know what it wants to be. Meg 2: The Trench picks up a dozen ideas, shakes them like keys in front of an infant, then tosses them aside. The film isn't ultimately about anything. There are some light jabs in the direction of an environmental message, but "don't pollute" doesn't work alongside Statham repeatedly insisting that some species have to die for the benefit of humanity. The film can't decide whether to take itself seriously or lean into the absurdity of the premise. The source material is a pulpy spy novel with giant sharks as most of the plot devices, but that tone would've been too sincere for the blockbuster scene. These films are rarely funny on purpose. Those willing to turn their brain off to sit through Meg 2 will feel cheated by its first hour. Those who've seen a few films from this genre will be constantly disappointed by all the obvious opportunities it passes on. In its desperate attempt to pander to all audiences, it can become unforgivably dull.
All Meg 2 needed to do was entertain summer crowds with dumb stunts, bombastic action, and big sharks. Fans of the first film may feel that it accomplishes that mission, but most viewers won't be thrilled. It's a tragic no-win situation for Meg 2. Not worth a trip to the theater but only justifiable on the largest imaginable screen. Meg 2: The Trench will likely be a favorite of viewers looking for a movie to leave on during a Sunday afternoon nap. It's not bad because its premise is dumb. It's bad because it picked up a dozen decent ideas and did nothing with them.
The Meg 2: The Trench
The Meg 2: The Trench is a followup to the 2018 Jason Statham-starring film about a giant Megalodon shark. The sequel is based on The Trench novel from Steve Alten and sees the return of Jason Statham and Cliff Curtis' characters from the first film. Ben Wheatley replaces Jon Turteltaub as the director for the sequel.