Review of Meg 2: The Trench (2023) by Thepient — 05 Sep 2023

Pros:

- Well-directed action sequences.

- Likable protagonists, passable side characters.

- Visually appealing.

- Not afraid to indulge in the ridiculous nature of its premise.

Cons:

- Lack of character development.

- No message or moral.

- Weak and underdeveloped human antagonists.

- Plot is an excuse for action (not really a big con for this type of movie but don’t go in expecting an engaging story).

Meg 2: The Trench is a film that plays things safe within its genre, prioritizing thrilling action sequences over anything else. As a result, the parts of the film without the Megs involved felt dragged out, and the entire middle of the movie was dull when compared to the promising start and the chaotic finale. The subplot of the illegal mining operation that the protagonists encountered, run by Montes (played by Sergio Peris-Mencheta), was definitely the weakest part of the film. The scene where Jess (Skyler Samuels) reveals that she is betraying them and tries to get the group to kill Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) felt really unnecessary and mostly just padded out the runtime. Furthermore, in the final act, Driscoll’s mercenaries are the weakest threat present, as they are mostly just torn apart by the dinosaur-like creatures seen at the start of the film (apparently called Snappers). With that being said, the action did deliver. The Fun Island sequence made sure that the stakes were felt, as the movie’s monsters relentlessly devoured anyone who lingered around the coast for too long.

Wu Jing’s character was surprisingly charming even though his overconfident nature was a tad unrealistic given the situations, and his family bond with Jonas and Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai) was heartfelt enough for me to hope that they all survive the film’s events. DJ (Page Kennedy) & Mac (Cliff Curtis) also had a few funny lines and acted as solid side characters throughout the film, but the rest of the cast felt expendable. The villains felt more irritating than threatening and lacked any real motive besides money (besides Montes, who had a vendetta against Jonas), and the story would honestly have been relatively similar (maybe even more enjoyable) without them, but it was at least fun to see them get eaten by the Megs.

The action scenes, especially Statham’s jetski escapade, were definitely the highlights of the film. It was generally lacking in character development and emotional drive, and the plot was more of an excuse to have people fight and/or run away from giant sharks (alongside a giant octopus and the Snappers, which were probably just in the film for more chaos in the final act), but that’s to be expected from a summer blockbuster like this. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect, so I’d say it’s worth the watch if you liked the first one or just want to see sharks kill people and vice versa, but isn’t really a loss if skipped out on.

5.