Meg 2: The Trench

Prequel: “The Meg” (2018)

Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) has always been a man of action. After having fended off the monstrous Megalodon shark in the first film, Jonas has decided to be a man of action in a different way, fighting environmental crimes such as toxic waste dumping in the ocean with the help of another team, The Mana One. Jonas has also focused most of his attention on raising his teenage daughter, Meiying, of whom he is very protective.

Jonas has been in touch with Meiying’s uncle, Jiuming (Jing Wu) who has taken over his brother’s company since his death. This company has been overseeing the care of a young Megladon named Haiqui, in hopes of learning more about this creature and how to better care for Megalodons (after all, they’re here to stay, like it or not). Everything is going swimmingly until… Haiqi escapes her enclosed area. Jiuming says there’s no way she could have escaped… This could be a problem.

But that’s being sidetabled for now, as Jonas, Jiuming and Meiying (who has stored away on the submarine), are going on a submersible exploration of the trenches, 25,000-feet below the surface. On their exploration, not only do they discover Haiqi mating with other megalodons, but they discover an illegal mining operation captained by a mercenary named Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta). Montes has his own grudge against Jonas for having him jailed for illegal activities. So what does Montes do when he sees Jonas’ submarine approaching, well he blows up the trench walls of course.

Jonas’ and the rest of the team’s submersibles are hit by the falling debris and crash. Jonas realizes that the only choice now is for him and his team to walk the seafloor to the underwater mining facility before their tanks run out of oxygen. They just have to ignore the two megalodons circling nearby and whatever else might be underwater with them.

Easy right?

Shark movies have become a dime-a-dozen since the first shark film, “Jaws,” in 1975. So many different versions of shark movies have rarely shown any individuality. Yet, apparently some people can’t wait to see them no matter who makes it. The concept just seems exciting to some audiences. They get excited when someone gets chomped up by a giant fish, especially if it’s a character you can’t stand (like a villain or really just someone who’s annoying). There’s a fanbase for sure. You know you shouldn’t enjoy, it but for some reason you do.

“The Meg 2” is no exception. A sequel to the first “Meg” movie, the “Meg 2” raises the risk, raises the suspense, the danger and the impossibilities (like fighting off a giant octopus all by yourself). With the raises come a raise in concerning content as well, If you are increasing all these different areas, making the sequel bigger, they apparently feel they have to increase the amount of concerning content too.

No, you really don’t have to. In fact, in light of recent news of the various shark attacks that are occurring in different parts of the world, “The Meg 2” probably wasn’t a good idea, but that’s beside the point. While indeed some cinematic aspects are praiseworthy (such as some of the performances or the camerawork in general), the content in “Meg 2” is still as problematic as the first, and the first was VERY problematic, particularly the violence. Yet when it comes to the level of violence portrayed in the sequel, the director was quoted as saying this…

“I think that in terms of action, it’s like the “Indiana Jones” movies are the high watermark of that. It’s like you feel like you’ve seen a lot of action and it doesn’t feel as a viewer like it’s been toned down […] And I don’t think that’s to do with certification. You don’t have to have loads of blood gouging out of people to make things more impactful, in a way.”

Even a reviewer from GameRant remarked…

“While an R-rated cut of Meg 2: The Trench isn’t happening, it’s always possible, however unlikely, that a more violent sequel will eventually happen should the franchise continue to be successful.”

Therein lies the REAL problem… the need for violent content. Violence, especially for the sake of being violent, is not something that should be praised and glorified in the first place. Yet, worldly people want more and more. “Bigger!” they cry, “Gorier!” they exclaim. When will enough be enough?

There is a very strong message about protecting the ecosystem and marine life.

Content of Concern

VIOLENCE: Note I’m not listing every single moment, as the amount is extensive. This is just some of the things that stood out.

There is a scene where a T-rex eats a lizard, but then the T-rex is eaten by a Meg (short for megaladon). A character, on board a ship, is seen being chased, and there is a brief fight sequence. Someone falls from on top of a shipping crate and hits their head on the way down. Someone is swimming with a Meg at a marine reserve and is almost eaten. Someone blows a seawall with explosives and two people mining the seawall are killed. A landslide occurs from the explosion destroying two subs. An eel-like creature is seen sucking on the helmet worn by a crewmember as the crew walks the trench. A Meg chomps down on a character (we hear her scream as she’s being eaten).

Someone head implodes from the pressure inside the researching facility (we see a headless corpse aftewards, but it’s not graphic). Giant reptile-like creatures attack the crew. Someone is asked to kill a main character but can’t do it. There’s another fight where a man is almost crushed. Someone is almost choked out. Someone is kicked in the face. Some people are knocked unconscious. Someone is tased.

Megs chomp on other characters. An island full of tourists are seen running in terror and some are eaten by Megs (in one instance a Meg eats multiple people at the same time). A reptile-like creature is seen dragging two individuals to their doom. A meg is bloodied and killed (we witness his insides showing. A giant octopus attacks a bunch of tourists, dragging them underwater and eating them. A man falls from a great height, another is stabbed with a piece of wood. A man is pushed into the mouth of a Meg. A meg kills a giant squid. A Meg is speared through with a giant piece of metal.

VULGAR LANGUAGE: F**k (1), Scr*wed (1), Sh*t (4), Bull-sh*t (1), S. O. B. (2), B*stard (1), As**s (1), A**holes (1)

PROFANITY: G*d (1), Oh my G*d (1), H*ll (5), H*ll yea (1), D*mn (3)

SEXUAL CONTENT: Someone comments on how two Megs are mating (and we see that briefly). Two people share a kiss. A very crude man says to two women at a beach, “You wanna rub oil on my back. How about my front?” Someone finds a pack of condoms in someone’s emergency pack and the person responds with, “Different kind of emergency.”

NUDITY: There are some shirtless males and women in bikinis at a beach.

ALCOHOL: Someone talks about buying beer and engaging in bar fights. Some tourists are seen drinking on an island.

OTHER: We see lizard-like creatures and insects eating the carcass of a dinosaur. Men toss barrels of toxic waste into the ocean. A young girl stows away on a ship against the wishes of her father. We witness a dead character with his insides showing.

There are no real redeeming morals I can draw from this film.

Final Thoughts

Jason Statham has gone on record as complaining about how minimal the amount of violence is in “The Meg 2.” That’s a really scary statement. I know it seems like most of my review sounded like a sermon on the dangers of excessive violence in films, but “The Meg 2” is the product of such an issue.

Ok, sure, you go to a shark movie expecting some amount of violence, but “The Meg 2” seems excessive. Not to mention, apart from that, there are a plethora of plot holes, questions and just a sense of unease with this film. In my opinion, “The Meg 2” is not appropriate for ANY audience, adults included. We don’t need to support these kinds of films. Swim away from this MEGA problem of a film.

• Violence: Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Moderately Heavy
• Profane language: Moderate
• Nudity: Mild
• Sex: Mild
• Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
• Occult: None

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