Why is Jason Statham fighting three supposedly extinct mackerel sharks with throwable projectiles? Why is there a legion of supposedly extinct sea creatures roaming the trench? When is it ever a great time to send your teenage niece to embark on dangerous deep-sea exploration? These are just a couple of questions that may flash through one’s mind while watching Meg 2: Deep Trench. Although the sequel to The Meg isn’t interested in providing any logical answers to questions regarding its plot, one would be gravely mistaken to assume that the movie isn’t absurdly entertaining.
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 and outsmart their merciless predators.
Narratively, Meg 2: The Trench commits almost every storytelling sin and the plot is full of holes big enough for the Megs (Yes, plural) themselves to navigate through. However, the film’s commitment to its own absurdity makes for a hilariously entertaining experience. Fundamentally, the Meg films are really about giant shark(s) wreaking havoc, and to expect anything else is as fooling as asking Jason Statham to transform into a Shakespearean actor.
Reprising his role as rescue diver Jonas Taylor, Jason Statham injects the same stone-faced personality as he did with every other Jason Statham character. As the rescue diver who “fought the Megalodon and lived to tell the tale.”, Statham returns to face off against Megs, no-good humans, and a large octopus. In Meg 2: The Trench, Statham spends at least half the runtime of the sequel looking intense, holding a gun, or locking his brows as he furiously attacks bad people and sea creatures alike.
Fulfilling its promise of Statham going toe-to-toe with prehistoric sharks, the Meg sequel succeeds in delivering B-movie spectacle, packing its runtime with exhilarating action sequences, campy dialogue, and absurd entertainment. Like its predecessor, the film indulges in monster tropes and gloriously overblown shark-punching action. It’s ridiculous in every way, but Meg 2: The Trench knows exactly what type of movie it is.
