By Jack Bottomley
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the cinema! The Meg is back, bigger and…better?
As Jason Statham returns as professional badass Jonas, for this shark action thriller sequel to the 2018 hit, again based on the novels by Steve Alten. This time British director Ben Wheatley (Sorry? Yes, THAT Ben Wheatley…What? Why are you staring at us?) takes over the directorial reigns for this sequel that goes even crazier with the material.
As more Megalodons are unleashed and the scientists led by Statham (will you stop staring at us like that?!) must outsmart (and out swim) these prehistoric apex predators for the sake of survival. As an oceanic exploration of the mysterious Trench conjures up all manner of aquatic dangers of prehistoric origin.
Taking the set pieces, action and comedy of the first film and amplifying it 100%, Meg 2: The Trench is a gargantuan summer movie in every respect, that looks to deliver plenty of bang – or rather bite – for your buck, and maybe even some-fin to get your teeth into! Sorry…
Even considering the expectations going in Meg 2: The Trench is one hell of a silly movie.
A film where deep sea compression can be counteracted with a gulp of air and manly fixation, or where one person can wield a helicopter blade like a javelin. Mind you, we didn’t expect Shakespeare here now did we?
Wheatley has made a sequel that is like 1989’s Leviathan meets The Lost World by way of Jaws 3. Its big, mad and 12a-pushing human chomping ridiculousness served on a mightily big screen, that never takes much of a moment to consider “is that a bit much?”. In fact, most impossibilities here can probably be attributed to early on in the film’s development, where with every ludicrous plot turn proposed, some one asked, “will people believed that”, and the others just responded with, “yeah, it’s The Stath”. Fair point, actually!
Like a takeaway it won’t fulfil your every need but it goes down easy. Plus, no matter how absurd it becomes, we can’t bring ourselves to harpoon a film that has the stones to pull some of this s**t with a 140 million budget at its disposal and yet still succeed where other big name rivals haven’t.
Who’s ready for Meg 3: Aquarium Time Machine. Probably from director Werner Herzog at the rate we’re going!
Meg 2: The Trench is in cinemas now!
