The Stream: Dumb characters, bad effects, and a boring first hour.

The Big Screen: When the Megs are let loose, then the action takes off.

The Final Bill: A boring plot distracts from the Megalodon terrorizing people, which is what you actually came to see.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris
Stars: Jason Statham, Jing Wu, Shuya Sophia Cai, Cliff Curtis, Page Kennedy
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror
Rating: PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, language and brief suggestive material
Runtime:
Production Companies: Apelles Entertainment, China Media Capital, Flagship Entertainment Group, Gravity Pictures, Maeday Productions
Platform: In theaters August 4, 2023
Notable Trailers: The Equalizer 3, Strays, The Nun II, Dune: Part Two

Hey, Streamers! It’s August, which is typically the slowest summer month at the box office. Since there isn’t much coming out in theaters this month, we have to be pretty generous with those flicks we are willing to let entertain us. I’m not embarrassed to say that I have been looking forward to the sequel to The Meg, which came out it 2018. Let’s pretend it’s still Shark Week and enjoy the Meg 2: The Trench.

Meg 2: The Trench takes place five years after the events of the The Meg. Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) has been fighting environmental crimes and continuing to be involved in the exploration of the Mariana Trench, where the Megalodons lurk. Taylor has also been involved in raising Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai), who’s mother has passed away in the interim. Meiying’s uncle, Jiuming (Jing Wu), has created a super-suit that allows people to travel into the depths of the trench to further explore the creatures below. Throw in some more pre-historic sea dwellers, some nefarious corporate overlords, and environmental jargon, and you’ve got a sequel to the original giant shark creature-feature. Chum-chomping hijinks ensue.

Yes, I was looking forward to the ridiculousness that would be the sequel to The Meg, but I was disappointed by the direction of Meg 2: The Trench. The first hour of this flick is pretty boring. There is a lot of set-up of a new plot focused on environmentalism and corruption, and the Megalodon is only a vague specter in the background. These pre-historic sharks are supposed to be terrorizing the people populating this movie, but it takes too long to get to any of that. Moreover, the characters make very dumb decisions, especially the very annoying, Meiying. Teenagers are typically annoying in these disaster movies, but Meiying takes the cake. Then, the visual effects look bad as well. The underwater scenes are too dark, and the rest of it looks no better than a Sharknado sequel. This movie has to have a bigger budget than Sharknado!?!?!

Statham does his best. He has that deadpan, action hero energy that we expect. He’s fun despite how dumb most of this movie is. If Statham wasn’t in this movie, it would have been a real slog. I’ll also shout out Page Kennedy, who plays DJ, an engineer with Jiuming’s company, Mana One. Although he’s a fairly stereotypical black character in these disaster action movies, Kennedy is very funny. He has some of the best lines and some surprising action acumen. When Kennedy is on screen, you can expect at least a slight chuckle, which is better than the nothing that the rest of the movie is giving.

Ultimately, Meg 2: The Trench is not the exciting sequel I was expecting. It has a boring environmentalism plot that isn’t really important to the overall film. There is too much delay getting to the Megalodon and the action sequences. The acting and effects are no better than what you’d see in Sharknado. Except for Jason Statham and Page Kennedy, there really isn’t much positive here. Am I being to harsh? I don’t know. I can only give this one popped kernel and say only watch on streaming if bored.