Meg 2: The Trench

“See ya later, chum.”

Big, loud, completely ridiculous…..Yep, that about explains Meg 2: The Trench, but it’s absolutely fun to watch. This is the type of film that makes “professional” critics turn up their noses and websites like Rotten Tomatoes have a field day of hate reviews. Well, I’ve never really cared for the opinion of professional critics and I’ve never understood why Rotten Tomatoes is so special, so take it from an average dude that’s watched a ton of movies: Meg 2: The Trench may not be Shakespeare, but you’ll definitely have a great time watching it.

Jason Statham returns as Jonas Taylor. Joining him from the first Meg film are Cliff Curtis as Mac, Page Kennedy as DJ, and Shuya Sophia Cai as Meiying. New additions include Jing Wu as Jiuming Zhang, Meiying’s uncle and the new head of his family’s research company, Skyler Samuels as Jess, Melissanthi Mahut as Rigas, and Sergio Peris-Mencheta as Montes. Sienna Guillory also stars as Driscoll, the primary financier for Mana One’s research.

In the film, Jonas Taylor continues his battle against environmental criminals. Mana One has continued researching the Mariana Trench and also has a young megalodon named Haiqi in captivity. The captive meg’s behavior has become erratic. Hoping to understand what might be happening, Zhang convinces Taylor to join his group that submerges into the trench to study the megalodons and to explore new regions. Haiqi escapes captivity and follows them into the trench. They uncover an illegal mining operation which blows up much of its work in order to hide its operation. Montes, part of the illegal mining group, attempts to kill Jonas and the surviving members of the Mana One expedition. Taylor and a few others survive, but Mana One has been taken over by a saboteur when they finally reach the surface. Thanks to the excessive heat generated by the mine explosion, two male megs follow Haiqi to the surface and go on a feeding frenzy. Other things escape the trench as well. Can Jonas save the day one more time? Watch Meg 2: The Trench to find out!

While I will admit that the film gets a bit bogged down by the whole mining plot, the rest of the film is exactly what one would expect from a film about giant sharks eating things and Jason Statham using harpoons, jet skis, and sheer masculinity to fight them. Page Kennedy steals almost every scene that he is in throughout the film. His character gets a much bigger chunk of the movie to play with and he adds a ton of humor to the movie. Cliff Curtis is reliable as always as Mac and Shuya Sophia Cai gets into all sorts of trouble as Jonas’ stepdaughter, Meiying. The human villains are pretty much forgettable, but the real stars are the sharks and the other creatures that rise up from the trench to eat anybody and anything in their way.

This is a popcorn flick, folks, and if you go into the theater expecting something other than sharks, explosions, and completely ridiculous fun, you’ll be disappointed. Check your brain at the door and have a little escapist fun with Meg 2: The Trench. Oh, and Steve Alten’s books that this film and its predecessor use as a framework for their stories are definitely worth checking out as well.

Thanks for checking out my review. I’m currently at the Houston Horror Film Festival and I’m having a blast. I’ll have a full report on Monday about this excellent event.