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

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200 miles off the Chinese coast, a deep sea submarine is attacked by a Megalodon, a giant 75-foot shark that was thought to be extinct for over millions of years. With the ship disabled at the bottom of the sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) and oceanographer Suyin Zhang (Li Bingbing) must quickly work to rescue the crew.

Simply put The Meg is big, bold fun! Think of all of the things you loved about those classic B-movie horror sci-fi films of the 1950s and 1960s and you’ll find it here in The Meg. The plot is simple, stop the giant shark from eating all of humanity, but make no mistake there are plenty of unexpected turns here and director Jon Turteltaub works hard to really deliver some top-level Hollywood action. Part of this occurs with his reliance on practical effects, and yes I do understand that the giant 70 foot shark is CGI, but even still Turteltaub really puts the emphasis on practical in camera effects to heighten the tension and the thrills.

Turteltaub also gets lucky with his leading man and as soon as I saw that Jason Statham was readying to fight a giant shark I was like sign me up for this! Statham is a consummate professional and again brings his A-game as outlaw diver Jonas Taylor, who is not fond of rules and likes to push things to the limit. Watching his performance you can just tell that he had a lot of fun making this movie and it’s great to see him utilizing his considerable aquatic skills within the film as he was once a professional diver and even represented his native Britain in the sport.

Statham is pretty much the living embodiment of the alpha male and here he gets to prove it with his absolutely ripped physique, badass swagger and ability to swing right in and save the day. And as for the film’s stunts, well Statham jumps head first into them as he does battle with the Meg and the action on screen will certainly get your adrenaline going.

While Jaws might have made people stay out of the water, after seeing The Meg you’ll definitely think twice before taking a dip in the open ocean. This prehistoric beast is a ferocious creature and it’s appearance up on screen will definitely make you jump! Turteltaub really knows how to pull out the scares and there where plenty of moments that absolutely took me by surprise and completely caught me off guard.

If you’re looking for a film experience with some serious bite to it then I highly recommend that you check it out. The Meg is some great big monster fun and it’ll definitely amp you up with its blockbuster thrills.

Image: Roadshow Films.

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