‘Meg 2 The Trench’ Is a Pathetic Embarrassment

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.

With some movies, it’s natural to go in expecting a certain level of camp. It’s the filmmaker’s choice whether to lean into that camp, or steer away from it in an effort to produce something more serious. In the case of Meg 2 The Trench, it appears no one involved in the making of this movie had any clue what they were doing.

While I am admittedly not the biggest advocate for Jason Statham nor The Meg movie, I went in with only one expectation: to have fun. After about the first 30 minutes, I was curious whether I was the only person not having a good time, but when two of the only eight people in the theater walked out less than halfway through, I had my answer.

Not only is Meg 2 The Trench aggressively uninteresting for the first 1:45, it’s hilariously bad. Some movies fit perfectly into the “wait, what?” category, and this is one of them. There are indefensible decisions left and right that leave you wondering “wait, what just happened?” and “wait, how did they make it out of that?” Not least of which is Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) swimming five miles deep underwater with no protective gear, simply because “he’s not like us.” Most of these plot points are given no further context, the movie simply moves on to the next scene without any explanation.

Another frustrating problem is the editing, and not in a “we’re underwater following giant sharks, so I expect a little disorientation” kind of way. The film is loaded with wide, sweeping shots that are a disproportionate nightmare. It’s headache inducing to say the least, and feels as if most shots were given one take, and if it came out bad, then so be it. Couple this with an unnecessary amount of quick cuts during action scenes along with frames completely out of focus, and you’re left with a severely mediocre mash up of camera work.

On top of all these problems, it’s the lack of identity that hurts Meg 2 The Trench worse than anything. Once the filmmakers decide to turn the ridiculousness meter up to 12, it at least offers some mild entertainment. Lamentably, all interest is long gone by the time the film reaches this conclusion. The choice to center the story around a strange betrayal arc that comes out of nowhere with zero explanation in a film people are going to see for giant sharks, is puzzling.

It’s time to start a dialogue about Jason Statham. While his Fast franchise partner Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson catches a lot of flack for playing the same character in each of his movies, the same can be said about Statham. I suppose when you’re contractually obligated to win every fight you get into, it only allows for a limited amount of wiggle room for character depth. Perhaps that’s why their team up movie, Hobbs and Shaw, is so dreadfully dull.

It’s safe to say no one is expecting Meg 2 The Trench to receive any Oscar nominations, especially not in the performance category. The only person able to make any magic out of an awfully boring script is Wu Jing, who bounces a few delightful lines worthy of a smile off different cast members at times. Skyler Samuels, Sienna Guillory, and Sergio Peris-Mencheta all weigh the movie down with atrocious outings, lending more credibility to the aforementioned idea that many scenes only received one take. If some of these scenes had a proof watch, someone would’ve noticed they need another take.

Given the mass amount of summer movies to contend against, Meg 2 The Trench will likely experience a short and disappointing theatrical run. With the ‘Barbenheimer‘ phenomenon still going strong, it’s hard to picture people choosing “Jason Statham vs. giant shark” over the likes over Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Meg 2 The Trench is now playing in theaters everywhere. Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for all the latest news and reviews.