The Meg originally premiered in 2018 and that’s over half a decade ago now. The first Meg movie was a surprisingly fun and enjoyable creature feature shark attack movie that made it better than it should have been. Now, Meg 2 The Trench is about to bare its jaws (pun intended) in cinemas. Did The Meg even need a sequel? Read on to find out.

Shark Week

As a whole, Meg 2 The Trench is like a couple of different movies mixed together. The first act of the movie is the best when the characters are actually exploring the titular trench, featuring some moments that genuinely feel intense and gripping. However, from the second act onwards (and in two-thirds of the movie’s duration), they leave the trench and the movie changes its tone into such ridiculous and unrealistic waters that people would probably believe it’s Meg 2 The Trench is a Fast And Furious spinoff (even though it’s not). If 2018’s The Meg had sparks of Jaws, Meg 2 The Trench leans more heavily into action-heavy territory with more emphasis on comedy.

That being said, I still had an enjoyable and fun time with Meg 2 The Trench. That’s because, despite the movie being so ridiculously over-the-top, there’s a level of self-awareness in the movie that makes it all fun. It feels like the cast knows they’re in a ridiculous movie and they act like it most of the time. That’s the opposite of the cast in other movies (such as the recent Fast And Furious movies, just to cite an example) who takes everything way too seriously that it breaks the immersion for viewers.

Let’s be serious, no one watches these kinds of movies expecting a dramatic Oscar-worthy experience. If you’re here for the creature feature experience, Meg 2 The Trench gives us more than megalodons this time around, but I won’t spoil what they are. Unfortunately, Meg 2 The Trench suffers a bit in this regard because the monsters aren’t the only antagonists anymore. The movie has human antagonists for some reason, who aren’t really necessary for any other reason but to provide some additional action scenes for the cast. The monsters aren’t the only focus anymore, and sometimes the focus will shift to the human antagonists, which isn’t the reason why people are watching a movie like this.

Meg 2 The Trench could have been a much better movie if it had maintained the more intense tone of the first act. Still, it’s not surprising that the movie became much more ridiculous later on since the trailers and promotional material don’t really hide that fact. At one point, a character survives swimming in deep water (25,000 feet under the sea) without any protection. Jason Statham is basically Captain America and Aquaman in one man (from the illogical feats he performs in the movie). The caveat is that if you’re really averse to ridiculous movies like this, it’s not for you, but Meg 2 The Trench never pretended to be anything other than a simple creature feature B-movie action flick.

Fish Food

Meg 2 The Trench is a ridiculous movie with the characters doing a bunch of ridiculous things. However, it still manages to be fun and enjoyable despite it all. That is, provided you come in expecting a creature feature action B-movie where you can shut your brain off.

At least it doesn’t pretend like it should be taken seriously (cough Fast X cough).

FINAL SCORE: 40/100

We attended an early screening of Meg 2 The Trench courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures Malaysia. Meg 2 The Trench is slated to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on 3 August 2023.