‘Meg 2: The Trench’ – Review
If you’re looking for a crazy bit of cinematic fun that goes all out with the action, scares and Jason Statham’s tough guy cool, then Meg 2: The Trench is the ticket!
Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) leads a research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal, prehistoric sharks and relentless environmental plunderers, they must outrun, outsmart and out swim their merciless predators.
2018’s The Meg was a colossal box office behemoth that nobody saw coming, and its creature feature thrills gave audiences one hell of a kick. And now, in 2023, it’s time to dive back into the action with Meg 2: The Trench, which dials the crazy up to a whole new level. Filmmaker Ben Wheatley, who has cut his teeth on a selection of hard-hitting and thought-provoking pieces such as Kill List, High Rise, Free Fire and Rebecca, changes things up for himself with Meg 2: The Trench. And he’s having a blast with it! It was noted in numerous media interviews that Wheatley could barely contain his excitement for this picture, and this enthusiasm shines through. Any notion of scientific reality is thrown out of the window as Wheatley amps up the ‘B movie’ exploitation film fun of Meg 2. And it’s one mental cinematic rush.
Hollywood’s ultimate tough guy, Jason Statham, once again returns to the world of The Meg as eco-warrior, badass Jonas Taylor. And he’s got his work cut out for him this time. While Statham lays the smackdown on both the nasty human villains of the piece, along with the colossal beasts of the ocean floor, he also has his buttons pushed as a pseudo-father-figure to the young Meiying Zhang, the daughter to his one-time love Suyin Zhang. This new element switches things up for Statham’s Taylor and keeps it interesting. Like everything he does, Jason Statham just jumps head first into the action of Meg 2: The Trench, and paired with Wheatley’s infinite enthusiasm for this story, things get explosive pretty damn quickly.
Adding to the fun of Meg 2: The Trench is noted Chinese actor Wu Jing, who takes on the role of Jiuming Zhang, Meiying’s uncle, and a compatriot of Statham. Like Statham, Jing knows how to handle himself in the action department, and he gets to do some pretty death-defying stunts in this new feature. But he also injects a solid dose of comedy and fun into the role, and it’s clear he’s having a blast in the picture. Plus, Cliff Curtis and Page Kennedy return as Mac and DJ, and again both get to play out plenty of hi-jinks in this wild and crazy action picture.
The action of Meg 2: The Trench is absolutely NUTS, and there’s plenty to get audiences amped up with the experience of this picture. For Wheatley, bigger is better for Meg 2, and he brings some absolutely insane stant pieces to the big screen. Jason Statham swimming 25,000ft below the surface of the globe: check. A stand-off against prehistoric dinosaurs and a helicopter: check. A full-on speed boat, harpoon battle between Statham’s Taylor and three Megs in the open ocean: check. It’s all here, and audiences looking for a rush will find it. And Wheatley doesn’t skimp on either the scares or the laughs, and there are plenty of them in this massive picture.
Meg 2: The Trench is a fanatical piece of action-sci-fi filmmaking, and it’s a damn fun watch. Just sit back and have fun with this one, and it also makes it clear that Jason Statham is the APEX PREDATOR!
Image: Warner Brothers Pictures
