Meg 2: The Trench

Five years after the events of the first movie, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is raising his teenage daughter, Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai) alongside her uncle Jiuming Zhang (Wu Jing) who is now running Mana One a research facility studying the Trench and the Megalodons (Megs), including a female Meg they have named Haiqi. Haiqi was found as a pup in the Trench and raised by Jiuming. During a standard survey of a sector of the Trench, the two Mana One subs discover an unknown mining facility on the Trench’s floor.  An explosion set off by the miners, traps the crew who have to make their way to the mining facility traversing Meg infested waters, as well as other prehistoric creatures’ unseen until now. The explosion also opened a hole in the thermos-layer that kept these creatures in the Trench.  Action, adventure, death, and betrayal all follow as we learn who owns the mining facility and how it is related to Mana One, Jonas, and Jiuming. Can our heroes escape back to the surface in time to warn an unsuspecting public that three Megs and a few other creatures have escaped the Trench and are about to go on a feeding frenzy? Watch and find out!

Sometimes there are movies that are made just to be fun.  These types of movies, you have to go in knowing that the science is not going to make sense and the audience really needs to shutoff any logic centers in their brain and just allow the movie to tell a visually exciting and action-packed story.  This is definitely one of those films.  This movie was not made to be smart or poignant.  It was made to be exciting and fun, with some basic humor and a lot of visual effects and action.  The story is basic and cliched, but that actually adds to its charm as you can just shut your brain off and enjoy.  The script is corny and hokey and some of the exposition is clumsily handled, sounding forced.  The special effects are good but nothing we hadn’t already seen, and the action sequences are over the top and unrealistic, but that is why we watch this movie.

Like the script, the performances are what you would expect from such a film.  No-one is winning an Academy Award for their acting in this movie, and they know it and don’t care.  Jason Statham does what he does best, fights bad guys.  I was surprised and disappointed that he never removes his shirt in this film, which is a shame as his abs usually get top billing and his body is a wonder to behold.  He delivers his lines like he does in every movie and is definitely an actor that has found his niche and knows how to turn over a good action performance. Shuya Sophia Cai was probably the best actor in the film, playing Jonas’ teenage daughter.  She has to show the widest range of emotion going from joy, to fear to relief.  Page Kennedy also does a good job adding some comic relief reprising his role from the first film as well.  The rest of the supporting cast is also adequate providing needed drama and humor. This is a fun and energetic film, as long as you have a very strong ability to suspend your disbelief.