Meg 2: The Trench

I still remember my first real foreign trip in 1990 with my grandparents Ingvar and Elsa to San Agustin, Las Palmas. I was 13 years old and used my Sony Walkman digging to a cassette tape with mixed songs. And it was especially when i heard the pop song Name And Number from British pop band Curiosity Killed The Cat i felt at home with the white beach and the palm trees. Every time i hear that song it feels like im back in 1990 at this specific beach. I remember as we sat at a restaurant near the beach there was a fisherman working on a fishing net. At that time i was pretty good at speaking English so i had no problem understanding. After the meal i wanted to look at the fisherman´s supplies and he said it was ok i can look. I asked him if he have caught many different kinds of fish and he told me some of the biggest ones he have catched. He was a very fascinating man to listen to and he also told me that when he worked on a ship 20 years ago ( that would have been 1970 ) that travelled across the world to different locations. And he told me when he for the very first time saw a white shark in South Africa while working there on the ship. The way he told the story was fascinating and how much he loved seeing a real white shark in the ocean. I found out before i had to leave that this was one of the moments he will never forget, more than any fishes that he catched working as a fisherman in his older years. I have always been fascinated in sharks and i did visit The National Aquarium Denmark, also known as Den Blå Planet in Kastrup where you actually can see Hammerhead sharks among a lot of other fishes and sea life. If you have not been there i highly recommend you to visit. Since sharks is very popular especially among B movie lovers ( i am one of those fans ) we did get a much bigger budget shark movie in 2018 with the shark action film The Meg. I actually enjoyed this film with action star Jason Statham and there were some impressive shark attack scenes in this film ( even though they could have done a bit more i think ). I actually bought this film on Blu Ray during Christmas in 2018 and gave everyone a copy in my family. Since the film was a box office success they decided to make a sequel, but the film was delayed while making the film because of the pandemic. So here we are in 2023 with the sequel Meg 2: The Trench. Is this a worthy sequel to the great first film or is this a desperate attempt just to cash in on fans for box office profits?

Five years have passed, Jonas Taylor ( Jason Statham ) has been involved in fighting environmental crimes while also helping Mana One in exploring a further deep part of the Mariana Trench where the Megalodon had been found. Following the death of Suyin Zhang ( Li Bingbing ), Jonas has been raising her teenaged daughter Meiying ( Sophia Cai ) alongside her uncle and Suyin´s brother Jiuming Zhan ( Wu Jing ), who has acquired his father´s company alongside wealthy financier Hillary Driscoll ( Sienna Guillory ). While Jonas and Jiuming and a team explore the trench it seems that an operation is being done in the trench that none of them have heard of. But that´s not their only problem, it seems there are more Megalodon´s out there than they expected.

I think it would be fair to say that this is a film that will only appreciated if you enjoyed the first film, or if you are a fan of shark films in general. If you want powerful dramatic acting and interesting conversations, then this is not the film you are looking for. Meg 2: The Trench is more a technical updated version of the first film with more technology than last time and you could say that the story does have some similar ideas from the first film. So as a sequel does this film manage to deliver anything outside of these details? I would probably say that one thing this sequel does right? I think the underwater technical suits are really cool when they walk on the bottom of the ocean as their craft isn´t working. It almost feels like this scene is inspired by Ridley Scott´s classic Alien film but with the ocean instead of a planet to explore. Of couse we know what the enemy is right from the start, but i think this particular scene helps Meg 2 become more interesting than a usual shark film. I also like some of the closer scenes on the massive Megalodon that really leaves an impact. The cast in this film is alright in Meg 2, but it becomes very clear that lead actor Jason Statham is clearly the character that really stands out in this film while some of the other characters don´t leave any bigger impression. The other characters that are good are without a doubt Jing Wu ( from the great Wolf Warrior films ) as the character Jiuming Zhan and i would also say Sergio Peris-Mencheta ( yes the bad guy from Rambo: Last Blood ) who is actually a good villain in this film. So anything negative to say about Meg 2? If i really wanted to find flaws and problems i could probably do that easily, but i feel like i knew what i was getting myself into with Meg 2. This is not a film that is made out of perfection and is supposed to be made for shark fans, so you can´t really expect to have any big expectations. Could this film have been better? Absolutely, but i don´t really have any big issues with this sequel and just take this film for what it is, an entertaining sci fi action film. Meg 2: The Trench manage to do justice to the first film while adding some new interesting details that i think this film needed than just copying the first film. Director Ben Wheatley ( director of the cult British film Kill List, a must pick up on DVD or Blu Ray ) clearly knew what the fans of this wanted and he does a good job capturing the right tone of the previous film, while taking some chances and add some refreshing details. Meg 2: The Trench have no problem delivering the goods that fans of this genre appreciate. Shark bait anyone? Don´t mind if i do throw it there myself, a MAGA supporter should do just fine.

Rating: DDD