Meg 2: The Trench

Jason Statham returns as Jonas Taylor, who has become more Statham-like in between films than during The Meg. Now, Jonas spends his days fighting environmental crimes while working part-time with Mana One to explore the Mariana Trench, where even more Megalodons have been discovered. They have since been studying a Megalodon that they found as a pup, raising and training it in a reserve in Hainan under the direction of Jiuming Zhang (Wu Jing) – Suyin’s older brother.

In the six years since the previous film’s end, Suyin has died – with little detail about how or why – leaving Jonas to raise Meiying (Sophia Cai), his stepdaughter, without Suyin. For this reason, he has clearly come to rely on Jiuming to provide some kind of continuity in Meiying’s life. With Jiuming having acquired his late father’s company, he and Jonas often work together and act as co-guardians of Meiying. Their differing approaches to their professional work put them at odds on occasion. Still, they’re family at the end of the day – and Meiying means more to them. However, Jiuming wasn’t able to purchase the company on his own, leading to the financial backing of Hillary Driscoll (Sienna Guillory). With the first film in the bag, it’s clear from the get that she’s probably not a hero.

Meg 2 has the dubious honor of following up an entertaining creature feature with a more restrained budget but with more advanced technology. Two of the principal cast members from the previous film that survived to the credits did not return, namely Li Bingbing and Ruby Rose. Many new characters were introduced in their absence to fill in the gaps. Beyond those two, a handful of original cast members did return to reprise their roles.

While the absence of Li and Ruby is felt, only the former’s departure was mentioned in any meaningful way. I think it’s safe to assume that Jaxx (Rose) found a better, safe opportunity as far away from the overly large sharks that tried to take multiple chomps out of her as possible.

For the new characters, Mana One has some new staff – Jess (Skyler Samuels), Rigas (Melissanthi Mahut), Curtis (Whoopie Van Raam), Sal (Kiran Sonia Sawar), and Lance (Felix Mayr). Sal, Curtis, and Lance are all divers for Mana One, while Rigas is a security officer and Jess is an analyst. The latter two are the more important ones, with both being presented as having worked with the team for a long time – and the implication being that Rigas was involved in the first film’s events. Rigas makes a bit more sense when one considers a small note – the role was probably intended for Ruby Rose, banking on her work from Batwoman and John Wick: Chapter 2, which showcased her chops as an action star in between The Meg and Meg 2. On the other hand, Jess is far more insidious of a character.

For the antagonists, Driscoll has Montes (Sergio Peris Mencheta) around to do the heavy lifting – almost literally, as he is in charge of her illegal mining operations in the Marina Trench. As the film unfolds, Montes is able to reveal that he took the gig partially to get the opportunity to get his revenge on Jonas for having arrested him two years before the film’s opening scene. Jonas is quick to quip about the number of assholes in the world and that it’s a bit unwieldy for him to remember them all. As a villain, Montes represents the most prominent physical threat, leaving Driscoll as the psychological one. Driscoll’s actions allow the threats to emerge, but Montes seeks to capitalize on them. Finally, Jess is the true reason why the main cast is in danger, and her actions get half of the cast killed.

No matter the genre, sequels are meant to be bigger, better, and bolder. If the stakes aren’t raised, then what even is the point? This is where many sequels often fall short. What aspects do you enhance and improve upon, and which do you tone down or excise altogether. With real-world concerns, what practical elements can you address in your film? Meg 2: The Trench chose to focus on the human threat and the creature feature aspects; simultaneously, they doubled down on Jonas Taylor as a character and Jason Statham as an actor, but they did not do these things in equal measure. Driscoll is sometimes a mere retread of Morris – a billionaire investor with shady dealings whose efforts do more harm than good, often intentionally so. At the same time, Driscoll was able to put people directly into Mana One that could aid her in being a threat, something Morris had to bring in. In that regard, that’s the role that Montes plays. Outside help whose actions offer a personal, lower-stakes threat to the main characters.

Jonas has had years to pull himself together and figure out who he is and what he wants from his life. With Suyin having died, he is also in a unique position as a father to a teenage girl who is not his by birth – an interesting path for the story to take. It focuses on found family, which the central crew of Mana One have become through their shared experiences. It also means they’re all willing to risk everything to protect one another when the chips are down, making them vulnerable to outside manipulation. With Jiuming at his side, the pair are able to make short work of the threats set against them.

The advent of possibly being able to train a prehistoric creature, never mind turning it into a pet, is not a novel concept. However, doing so with a beast of a Megalodon’s scale is a first for me – yet Haiqi could be that. The film leaves it open-ended on whether or not they have been able to truly befriend and bond with her, but her actions lean towards that just as often as they don’t. Confusing? Yes, but with any luck, a sequel will come in a few years to tie up any other loose ends.

Meg 2: The Trench acts as a fun continuation of The Meg. It doesn’t seek to reinvent the wheel. Despite the raised stakes, it seems content with ensuring the continued safety of its central characters. After all, killing the hero is a bold and provocative maneuver that most films would never dare to take.