Meg 2: The Trench

Many people did a double-take when it was announced that acclaimed British independent director Ben Wheatley would be directing the sequel to 2018’s The Meg, but his dark sense of humour makes this an enjoyably OTT ride.

Premise:  Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) splits his time between fighting to protect the oceans from exploitation, and leading diving missions to explore the pre-historic ecosystem discovered in the first film.  But when they venture into a newly discovered deep sea trench, a chain of events is set in motion that threatens both those at the bottom of the ocean and on the surface.

Review:

I didn’t dislike The Meg back in 2018, but I also wasn’t a huge fan either.  I felt that despite the enjoyable B-movie, creature-feature tone, it took itself a bit too seriously in places, and the pacing in the final act didn’t quite work.  So this sequel, based on the second book in a series of eight novels (so far), didn’t grab my attention when it was first announced – but then came word that acclaimed British independent director Ben Wheatley would be directing it, and I became very intrigued to see what the director of quirky genre films like Free Fire would do with the premise (and much larger budget).

The end result feels very much like a movie of two halves – the first half is played more straight-faced with a focus on the tension, before the second half really lets loose and becomes a much more fun and over-the-top black comedy.  That’s not to say that the first half is devoid of humour – the opening sequence, for example, is played very tongue-in-cheek, as we see that Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) has somehow morphed from the rescue diver we met in the first film into a renegade ecowarrior, singlehandedly exposing ne’er-do-wells dumping waste into the oceans.  It’s an enjoyable opening sequence, but it also sets a tone that suggests that everything that follows should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

“...Page Kennedy is responsible for most of the film’s funniest moments…”

From there, Jason Statham is reunited with Cliff Curtis, Sophia Cai and Page Kennedy from the first film, playing his best friend Mac, his surrogate daughter Meiying, and DJ the comic relief.  Page Kennedy is largely sidelined for most of the first half of the movie – but in the second half he really gets a chance to shine, and ultimately is responsible for most of the film’s funniest moments.  In fact, he may very well be the film’s MVP.  Cliff Curtis, meanwhile, is as solid and reliable as ever, and Sophia Cai gets a little more to do this time around, now that her character is a bit older.

Sienna Guillory joins the cast as the ocean researchers’ new financial backer (after the last one was eaten), but for whatever reason, Li Bingbing didn’t return for the sequel.  Instead, she’s effectively been replaced by her character’s brother, Jiuming Zhang, played by Chinese superstar Wu Jing.  He brings a different energy to this movie, and although he’s an action star in his own right, here he uses his physical skills for comedic purposes as much as for action sequences, meaning that Jason Statham still gets to take centre stage as the main action hero.  Statham’s performance here feels like it falls somewhere between Deckard Shaw in Hobbs & Shaw and Orson Fortune in Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre in terms of his recent roles, as he’s both playing the charismatic action-hero role and sending it up at the same time.

“…a full throttle creature feature run through with darkly comic moments…”

Without getting into spoilers, the first half of the film takes place largely underwater, and focuses on the tension and suspense more than the black comedy.  It’s somewhat effective, but the decision to make the film a 12A means that the horror elements are fairly tame – one character death in particular feels like an interesting concept, but it’s delivered rather toothlessly.

For me, the second half was where the film took off, as it wholeheartedly started to embrace its absurdities.  DJ gets some great unexpectedly comedic moments, and then by the time the prehistoric beasties set their sights on the holidaymakers of ‘Fun Island’, it becomes a full throttle creature feature run through with darkly comic moments, delightfully cheesy dialogue, and exhilarating deaths.

“…a deliberately over-the-top B-movie romp…”

Ultimately, Meg 2: The Trench was never going to be anything more than an enjoyably ridiculous B-movie, and taken for what it is, there’s fun to be had, especially during the second half when things just get more and more ridiculously over-the-top.  The film’s not trying to be Jaws (that would be a thankless task) – hell, it’s not even trying to be a tense shark thriller like (the excellent) The Shallows – it’s just a deliberately over-the-top B-movie romp.  And really, what more were you expecting from a film that’s main selling point in the marketing is Jason Statham riding a jet-ski fighting giant prehistoric underwater creatures?