Film Review: "Meg 2: The Trench" (2023).

"New meg. Old chum." This is Meg 2: The Trench. This science fiction action film directed by Ben Wheatley, adapted by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris, and based on the 1999 novel The Trench by Steve Alten. It is the sequel to The Meg (2018). Jonas Taylor and Jiuming Zhang dive into uncharted waters as they lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time.

In April 2018, Jason Statham said a sequel would happen if the film did well with the public. In October, executive producer Catherine Xujun Ying announced a sequel was in the early stages of development. In March 2019, it was announced that a script for the film was in the works penned by Georgaris, and the Hoeber Brothers. In his September 2020 newsletter, Alten confirmed the script, titled Meg 2: The Trench, to be complete, and expressed interest in its "dark" tone. In October, Wheatley was hired to direct. In April 2021, Statham said filming was set to begin in January 2022. By late January 2022, Statham, Page Kennedy, Cliff Curtis and Shuya Sophia Cai were all confirmed to reprise their roles, with Wu Jing, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, Sienna Guillory and Melissanthi Mahut rounding out the cast as newcomers. Li Bingbing was originally going to reprise her role, but ultimately left the film due to unknown reasons. At the same time, with a budget of $129 million, principal photography commenced as planned and took place at the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, as well as Hong Kong, China and Phuket, Thailand. The film crew had originally planned to shoot much of the climax in the Krabi region of Thailand. However, they were prevented from doing so by the government because jet-skis were banned in that area for being considered environmentally unsafe. This caused the crew to film these scenes in the region of Phuket. The visual effects were provided by DNEG, Scanline VFX and Milk VFX.

The film stars Statham, Kennedy, Curtis, Jing, Peris-Mencheta, Samuels, Guillory, Mahut and Cai. The film has Statham mean-mugging and being sarcastic for two hours, and it serves as a great reminder for all of us to go and watch this and The Meg.

While it lacks the originality, wit and character interplay that gave the first film an exceptionally appealing impact, the sequel is proficient enough to avoid bombing out. I am a fan of giant monster movies, so I like that the film almost seems like a Meg-ified response to the giant monster movie genre, as the film's second half revolves around an array of monsters, big and small, running amok and terrorising beach goers. The filmmakers did everything they could to breathe new life into the material without forgetting what had made that material work in the first place.

Simon says Meg 2: The Trench receives:

Also, see my reviews for Rebecca and The Meg.