Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

August 9, 2023 7:13 PM

[TRAILER] An exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean of a daring research team spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.

Starring Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, Cliff Curtis.

Directed by Ben Wheatley. Screenplay by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Dean Georgaris. Based on The Trench by Steve Alten.

Criminally underappreciated on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now playing in theaters. JustWatch.

posted by DirtyOldTown (20 comments total)

There are people in the world who would never consider seeing a giant shark movie. The Meg 2 is not for you. Then there are people who like horror, but would need some convincing, would need some proof that it wasn't going to be stupid or ludicrous or loud or silly, who would be open to it if there was some kind of innovative, creative, clever take. The Meg 2 is not for you either. Then there are people who heard "more giant shark with Jason Statham" and said "FUCK YES, sign me up" and The Meg 2 is a stone cold jackpot for us.

Ben Wheatley didn't sign on to elevate the franchise into something serious like Jaws. He signed on to have a blast doing bonkers sequel shit like Jaws 2. And he was very successful on that front. Fun time.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:14 PM on August 9, 2023 [15 favorites]

What the fucking fuck? Ben Wheatley directed this?!!?? The guy behind A Field in England and Kill List? I'd read this one was pretty dull for the first hour and then ramps up the batshit insanity in the 2nd hour, so figured it'd be a good laundry-folding movie when it gets to streaming, but I may have to forgo the laundry just to see how much of his freaky, creepy style Wheatley has retained after going so Hollywood.
posted by mediareport at 7:27 PM on August 9, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm dead serious with the Jaws 2/bonkers sequel shit comparison. He is absolutely not elevating this material or putting his own style onto it in some sneaky way.

He is making a bonkers ass giant shark sequel.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:34 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

I thought this was a lot of fun. It is exactly as much giant shark as you expect and need.

The opening scene, with the T-Rex, I'm pretty sure, comes from the first book (it's been a while since I read them) which was a nice call back for the probably single person seeing this movie who has read the books (or, in my experience, is even aware that there are books).

The scenes in the trench were suitably creepy (and wildly implausible, what with Jason Statham free diving at ~35,000 ft) but I thought they dispatched with the excess crew a little too quickly. We were barely introduced to them before they were gone, which makes it hard to really care. The first guy to bite it, I'm not even sure what happened to him exactly? I may need to re-watch.

Much like the first Meg, the sharks are of highly variable size -- huge when the scene requires it and much smaller when they need to fit through narrow or shallow places -- and that is very obvious when they are at the beach and a giant shark comes blasting out of water that is ... waist deep? I think in previous scenes we see people standing and walking at that depth.

Also: they explicitly call out Jaws 2 when DJ is showing off his gun, he claims it has poison bullets "like in Jaws 2".
posted by selenized at 7:40 PM on August 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

I mean: Jason Statham impales a megalodon shark on a helicopter blade.

It's terrific.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:58 PM on August 9, 2023 [5 favorites]

I don't know when I'll get to see this because to my chagrin cinemas are too much hassle now. But I am looking forward to it because Wheatley, Statham, and the first one was surprisingly fun as far as international blockbuster cinema goes.

Will I be disappointed when it doesn't have a full recreation of this scene from A Field in England but with Statham and a CGI shark? A little, sure.
posted by dumbland at 8:12 PM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Saw it in 4dx with my kid and thought it was a blast. It's not just the sharks that are suffering from continuity errors either, there is all sorts of messy stuff going on.

Doesn't matter though, it's just a bunch of nonsense.
posted by jonbro at 9:58 PM on August 9, 2023

I came in here to say Ben Wheatley? But that angle has already been covered. Still, I can't help myself.

Directed by Ben Wheatley

W. T. F. ?
posted by Literaryhero at 5:09 AM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

So, maybe in the next one, the giant shark could get caught in a tornado, and...

Nevermind.
posted by Marky at 7:11 AM on August 10, 2023

I mean: Jason Statham impales a megalodon shark on a helicopter blade.

Wait... they rip off Aatank (the Indian Jaws)? I may have to watch this now.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:27 AM on August 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

So today is the third day with a heat advisory so I went to the movies and saw this. And DAYUM I love me some giant shark action. That was fun.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:33 PM on August 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I wanted to add-I found this to be a lot more enjoyable than Cocaine Bear. I look forward Meg 3.
posted by miss-lapin at 4:25 PM on August 15, 2023

Are we really just going to keep not talking about EsophagusCam?

Because this movie had EsophagusCam.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:10 PM on August 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I re-watched this last night with friends, everyone had a blast because it is so nuts, and we all screamed with joy at the EsophagusCam. The film-makers knew exactly what they were doing with that shot.
posted by selenized at 8:32 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

BIG MONCH
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:56 PM on September 16, 2023

Also: did anyone hang around through enough of the credits to listen to this song? Because it is amazing.
posted by selenized at 3:36 PM on September 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

This is on HBO aka Max now and: oof, you all are being much much too kind. This is a total stinker.

Yes, it picks up a little in the last act, which is mostly a sequence of "spot the blatant visual reference to other better movies"; but yeah, no, this was just bad bad.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:00 PM on October 20, 2023

Just caught this on Netflix. It was a riot. I loved the nod to Deep Blue Sea when one of the villains bragged that the huge glass windows in her underwater lair were meg-proof. The very next moment a meg burst through the window and swallowed her whole. I hope Samuel L. Jackson sent his regards.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:56 AM on January 15 [1 favorite]

This is a total stinker.

But... monch...

I think to enjoy this you gots to be the kind of person who can watch a disaster movie and keep thinking "Heh heh... get 'em, God!"
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:29 AM on January 15 [2 favorites]

I'm going to revisit the "this is Ben Wheatley???" thing. Because here is what is really up with that. You may not think of Ben Wheatley as a commercial filmmaker, but THIS motherfucker said, "Jason Statham is in this movie? Well, he needs fight some guys!!" and do you know who didn't do that? The director of The Meg! So Ben Wheatley is actually the perfect director for a movie like this.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:35 PM on August 11