Meg 2: The Trench – 26%

Reviewer ranking: 3,793/5,146

Have you ever found yourself daydreaming at work, wishing you could watch the Poseidon Adventure remake, the fifth Die Hard installment, Jurassic Park 3, and a Jaws sequel consecutively, but life just won’t give you the time? Do I have good news for you! Meg 2: The Trench offers all of these in a 116-minute package. For a bonus we even have a direct reference to Jaws 2!

Meg 2 runs it back with Jason Statham, Shuya Sophia Cai, Cliff Curtis, and Page Kennedy from The Meg and adds in a few newcomers, including a new douchebag billionaire played by Sienna Guillory. We also get 3 new megalodons and even a mega-giant octopus. The story picks up with our gang of deep-sea divers exploring the thermocline that divides a deep-sea trench full full of prehistoric monsters from the rest of the world. When they encounter another meg, rather than follow protocol, the head of the team decides to follow it into uncharted water. There they discover an unmarked deep sea mining operation, and chaos and desperation ensue.

This marks the mistake of Meg 2 and many sequels of its kind. It confuses why we gleaned enjoyment from the original installment. The creators think we want to spend more time with the characters when they’re not being chased around by ancient sharks. We spend nearly an hour of the movie without the megalodons, and instead we watch the crew slowly walk through 25,000-ft waters in hi-tech suits and try to outsmart devious mine operators while attempting to make it back to the surface.

When we finally get around to having fun with the uber-sharks, Meg 2 embraces a darker sense of humor than the original. The comedic turn does allow director Ben Wheatley (2011’s Kill List, 2016’s Free Fire) to have more fun with embellished deaths as the sea creatures are unleashed upon an isolated resort. However, it does steal any notion of tension from the adventure, as we are meant to laugh at how these people are being devoured and not worry if our heroes can save them.

The ridiculous action in Meg 2: The Trench flows well enough, and the direction is clear. The acting matches the tone of the film, though the performances below the core cast are reminiscent of 2000s video games. Ultimately, Meg 2 spends far too much time without the big fish and is never able to recapture the fun of the first installment.