Meg 2: The Trench (2023) – Review

Meg 2: The Trench picks up the story five years after the events of The Meg, with the sequel emerging in real life after the same duration. This time, the film is under the direction of British cult director Ben Wheatley, known for his work on dark British comedies such as Kill List (2011), Sightseers (2012), Free Fire (2016), and Happy New Year, Colin Burstead (2018). While a Hollywood blockbuster represents a departure from Wheatley’s usual style, his capable hands are evident in The Trench.

The film reintroduces Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), who is still connected to Mana One, the organization that discovered the existence of megalodons in 2018. The movie opens with Jonas involved in combating environmental crimes at sea, a subplot that is not fully explored or revisited. This introduction may serve to portray Jonas as a more self-assured and willing hero compared to his earlier, reluctant persona in The Meg. Now, he willingly dives into perilous situations with his unwavering moral compass.

It’s revealed that Suyin (Li Bingbing) has passed away, and Jonas is now the guardian of Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai), who has mysteriously grown from eight to fourteen years old in just five years. Jonas receives assistance in navigating the challenges of fatherhood from Suyin’s brother, Jiuming (Wu Jing). Both men seem to have a penchant for risky endeavors and humor over parenting responsibilities.

Jiuming is a megalodon trainer who believes in the effectiveness of his handheld sonar-emitting device. Mana One possesses the only captive megalodon in history, named Haiqi, who has been displaying unusual behavior. Could there be an innate primal instinct driving her actions? Jonas struggles to comprehend Haiqi’s moods and treats her with a certain degree of disdain. Throughout the film, Jason Statham’s expression remains largely unchanged, whether he’s cracking jokes about daring stunts, gazing at a photo of his deceased lover, expressing love for his daughter, or performing superhuman feats like bench-pressing a helicopter propeller and a megalodon.

The Mana One team has spent the past five years exploring the trench but has found little beyond megalodons. However, on this particular dive into uncharted waters, they encounter a series of unexpected events: Meiying secretly stows away onboard, Haiqi escapes from her enclosure, they encounter various supposedly extinct creatures, and stumble upon an illegal mining facility. These events culminate in an accident that breaches the thermocline, the ocean layer that keeps the megalodons confined. Chaos ensues.

Meg 2: The Trench falls short as a film, and it doesn’t even meet the criteria for a compelling shark movie. One of its major shortcomings is the scarcity of sharks in the film. In contrast, the original Jaws movie featured the shark on screen for just four minutes, but it skillfully built suspense around the creature. Barrels, conversations, characters scanning the sea for the shark, and notable incidents like Chrissie Watkins and Alex Kitner’s encounters with the predator, as well as Ben Gardner’s disappearance, all contributed to the ongoing suspense and the ever-present threat of the shark. In Meg 2: The Trench, the megalodons from the trench sporadically appear without much buildup or suspense. Their sudden appearances while characters are focused on other matters fail to create a sense of tension. The film’s reliance on three megalodons racing at high speed lacks the necessary suspense. Additionally, the presence of an unexplained giant octopus and land-dwelling dinosaurs adapted for extreme depths in the ocean raises further questions about the film’s logic.

However, there are redeeming aspects in Meg 2. The film provides moments of genuine humor, primarily delivered by DJ (Page Kennedy) and Mac (Cliff Curtis), who were fan favorites from the first installment. The movie also pays homage to the Jaws franchise, with some references being more meta than others. DJ’s mention of poison-tipped bullets while confronting an unknown militia (yes, there’s a militia subplot) is one such nod. Nevertheless, these positive elements can’t rescue the film from its overall shortcomings, which reach deep into the abyss.

Jason Statham’s character Jonas showcases an implausible ability to navigate encounters with sharks, octopuses, and amphibious dinosaurs without a scratch, stretching the boundaries of believability. The film attempts to explain his underwater prowess with a deviated septum, but this explanation strains credulity.

Surprisingly, the real antagonists in the film are not the sharks, which receive limited screen time, but rather individuals involved in illegal mining activities. While this premise is somewhat plausible, the rapid shift from profit-driven characters to ruthless killers is jarring and may leave viewers with narrative whiplash. Both the sharks and the human characters display an excessive appetite for violence, leaving a trail of gore in their wake.

Post-Jaws shark films are generally not expected to be cinematic masterpieces, but rather to deliver jump scares, shark encounters, and a sense of human hubris meeting its match in the form of sharp teeth and swift tails. These films typically aim to depict humanity’s struggle for control over nature when it appears most uncontrollable. Meg 2: The Trench checks many of the boxes associated with shark-themed movies, including the need to protect a child and a dog, a crowded script with distracting subplots, noticeable green screen effects, and performances that may be deemed subpar. In this regard, the film successfully embraces its nature as a genre piece that doesn’t take itself too seriously. However, given its substantial budget of nearly $130 million and a director known for more intriguing work, there was an expectation for a more substantial outcome.