A research team encounters multiple threats while exploring the depths of the ocean, including a malevolent mining operation.
I enjoyed “The Meg” when it was released in 2018. It was straight-up fun and nothing more. Jason Statham vs. a Megalodon, what’s not to like about it? It’s the reason summer blockbusters exist: to take our minds off the real world’s troubles for a few hours, switch off our brains, sit back, and have some fun.
This time, Jonas (Statham) and his friends from the underwater research facility Mana One delve deeper into the Mariana Trench, where the Megalodons from the first film were found. However, unbeknownst to them, a rival company has been secretly mining rare earth minerals from deep within the trench. When one of their mining facilities explodes, ripping the thermocline open and allowing three megs and an enormous prehistoric squid to swim to the surface, Jonas and his team must step up to the plate and try to save the world. Again.
“Meg 2: The Trench” delivers everything you’d expect from a sequel but I have to say, director Ben Wheatley pays homage to a multitude of scenes from varioues movies, including “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Jaws” (a dog’s name is Pipit – IYKYK), “Pitch Black,” and James Cameron’s “Aliens” and “The Abyss,” there is no shortage of idolization here. And what’s more, while they obviously emanated from the films above, they fit perfectly within the movie’s narrative.
While I found the tone of “The Meg,” at times, to be somewhat dismissive, in as much as the giant shark wasn’t taken as seriously as it could have been and the film was more about showing us just how big these creatures really were, for the sake of cinema, “Meg 2: The Trench” switches gears and while some of the Megs here are even bigger than the ones in the first movie, their existence is taken more seriously. Naturally, you can’t make a summer film about a gigantic shark and imbue it with an overly serious tone, that defeats the whole purpose of a fun summer blockbuster, but here, Wheatley regards the creatures with more consideration while much of the conflict comes from between the humans, and not the sharks themselves.
In the five years since the first entry in the series, CGI has come a long way, and the sharks and much of the visual effects have vastly improved. Granted, some effects could probably have used fine-tuning, but overall, the film makes for enjoyable, light-hearted entertainment. The franchise has done well financially, and I think it’s only a matter of time before we receive a third entry in the series. I, for one, will be waiting with excited anticipation.
Now available on Digital HD, and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD October 24th
