”Meg 2 The Trench” In any film where a character reacts to a potentially dangerous event inside the sea by saying “that was close” and then responds with “…too close” probably should not leave room for anything else besides the Razzie Awards. Yet in “The Meg 2 The Trench,” there is another line of dialogue that best summarizes how this high-gloss B-movie piece handles criticism – opposite of the original Meg – which separates it from bad movies unlike those that readily admit how bad they are: “The impossible has now become possible.”
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Meg 2 The Trench Review
The original “Meg” from 2018 was a thinly veiled tribute to director Jon Turteltaub’s affinity for cheesy action in a rom-com package, featuring Jason Statham. For “Meg 2 The Trench,” Turteltaub has been replaced by the more savvy Ben Wheatley (Free Fire), who presents a sequel that often plays as a supervising do-over of the original film but with enough self-awareness to feel like we’re all in on the joke. Despite the passage of time required to reach our destination, we shall persevere and ultimately arrive.
“The Meg 2,” based on Steve Alten’s second novel in the Meg series (there are six now), is not content with just one Megalodon, the prehistoric shark that weighs up to 50 tons and stretches over 60 feet long. The need for an endless sequel is justified, action expands, and the number of aggressive sea creatures increases. But, in the film’s lengthy opening, the enemy Megas, megarich paddlefish or gigantic cephalopods, are absent. They lack logic, common sense, and immediacy. Some of this has been reduced by Wheatley, who steps in as Jonas Taylor, the resourceful shark wrangler who “fought the Meg” and lived to tell the tale. He appears here a bit worn-out and somewhat defeated, lacking any other purpose besides saving everyone’s bacon until you refuse to acknowledge his incapacity for tying knots.
”Meg 2 The Trench” Jonas has a record-breaking 26 dives without an incident, which is a safety record for a scrapheap made when he and his team – including the now 14-year-old Meiying (Sophia Cai) from the first film – dive in a submarine with a thermal through the Marianas Trench at 25,000 feet. The descent, previously considered impossible by technology, is hindered by a Meg that escaped from the Mana One research facility and discovered a station sheltering an illicit mining operation on the ocean floor.
Thus far, our understanding leads us to believe that events are unfolding in such a manner, but we remain open to further discoveries and insights. Cinematographer Harris Zambarloukos’ lensing is consistently blurry, and with a few clear relationship shots between Meg and the submarine, it’s unlikely that we will see how huge Jonas’s antagonist is. It even includes a deus ex machina by Mena Van Vikram that saves Jonas from water pressure in the most awkward way possible. It seems like a futile attempt at satire or at least comedy, begging for a one-note villain gallery, also including the vile capitalist profiteering rare Earth minerals illegally by a Chinese production company (mainly a suitable enemy in the film) led by a pitch-perfect Paige Kennedy. There is a minor scuffle involving Meiying, whose verbal threats are on par with an angry soccer mom and who is sent here via a sensationalized rumor of Samuel L. Jackson’s death in Deep Blue Sea.
MEG 2 THE TRENCH – OFFICIAL TRAILER
Harlin’s thriller always knew whether you were laughing with or at it, Wheatley’s tally eventually comes correct during the second hour when the film, verbally and visually, rises from the depths. In a new and improved version of the original Meg’s Pacific home, Jonas and others arrive at Fun Island, a seaside resort where multiple Megas, gigantic hissing paddlefish, and a colossal cephalopod bring the film to life. Everyone joins in on the action, especially returning DJ (an entertaining Paige Kennedy), who’s the first to admit he’s really in a film, seeing that his gun’s bullets are just as useless as in Jaws 2.”
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