Meg 2: The Trench

 

We’re still deep in the throes of summer.  It’s hotter than blazes. Shark Week has just concluded. Sounds like the perfect time to hit the theater and indulge in the next popcorn film offering, Meg 2: The Trench. That’s exactly what I did this week.

There isn’t a lot to say about Meg 2: The Trench.

2018's The Meg is absurd and silly fun. I expected Meg 2: The Trench to go bigger and be more of the same.  It delivers.

Yes!

Returning casts members Jason Statham (Jonas), Cliff Curtis (Mac), Page Kennedy (DJ), and Sophia Ca (Meiying) return as to the franchise as their characters pick up where their characters left off 6 years prior. This time around the group is working for the Oceanographic Institute exploring the trench and fighting to save the world’s oceans. Obviously and much to my delight, things quickly go wrong, and the chomping soon begins.

Meg 2 wastes no time getting to the action with the opening Cretaceous Period a sequence. Not only does it set the tone for the rest of the film, it has more satisfying dino action than in the entirety of the Jurassic World Dominion.  

Things only go up, or rather down from there.  Over the next hour fifty-six minutes, three megalodons, various other prehistoric creatures spend the better part of the film hunting and trying to chow down on the crew. Only to be thwarted in more over-the-top ways. Adding to the fun is a group of mercenaries on the mix, so nowhere is safe. In other words, exactly what is expected, and I wanted.

Meg 2: The Trench, like the original has a bit of everything. Action, humor, drama, and heart. The deaths are quick, brutal, and largely bloodless to keep the PG-13 rating, so once again if you want more gore, you’ll be disappointed. 

Fast pacing and chaotic direction. Elements harken back to The Abyss and Deep Blue Sea work to good effect. Strong SFX. 

The soundtrack is more lacking this time around, I wanted more foreign versions of popular songs, but it’s still effective.  Can’t get more meta or on target than the closing credits song Chomp. Like the rest of the film, it’s loud, brash, a bit brainless, and entertaining as hell.  

While the main characters have grown figuratively and literally (shout out to Kennedy’s DJ in particular), Meg 2: The Trench doesn’t pretend to try and re-invent the wheel.  It is what it is.  And that’s exactly what movie goers want heading it.  Think Fast and Furious in the ocean.  

Grab your snacks, shut down your mind, and enjoy the ride.

Meg 2: The Trench gets a 9 from me.

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