Meg 2:The Trench (2023) is a Creature Feature, Science Fiction and a Thriller. Since I’d already watched The Meg (2018) I knew what to expect, plenty of tough guy cliches from Jason Stratham and impressive computer- generated imagery (CGI).
If you enjoy edge of your seat action scenes, Meg 2:The Trench has plenty. To enjoy them, however, you have to avoid asking too many questions. Three Megalodons follow Jonas Taylor (Jason Stratham), and other survivors from a life or death struggle at the bottom of the trench, through a disruption in a thermal layer that the Megalodons usually can’t traverse. Coincidentally, a giant octopus AND some pre-historic creatures with fangs (that can survive at the bottom of the ocean and on land) just happen to go through the thermal layer as well.
There’s an interesting term used in writing fiction called The Suspension of Disbelief. The author/storyteller and the reader/audience come to an agreement that as long as the story sticks to the rules established in the world created by author/storyteller, the reader/audience will temporary suspend their disbelief. One example is how John Wick can be hit by a car, but can get back on his feet immediately and keep on fighting. In that world it’s accepted that John Wick is exceptional and can do things other mere mortals can’t.
And then, there’s the ending of Meg 2:The Trench. Jonas Taylor is fit and obviously has some impressive training, but killing a megalodon with a helicopter blade! Up until that point in the movie, I was willing to go along with the story and just enjoy the CGI, but during that scene a line was crossed where it became so ridiculous that the fictional house of cards collapsed.
Meg 2:The Trench is worth watching if you’re a Jason Stratham fan, or if you like movies with intense underwater scenes. I enjoyed Leviathan (1989), Deep Blue Sea (1999) and Under Water (2020), and I appreciated the underwater scenes in Meg 2:The Trench for the same reasons. I could criticize the writers, but perhaps that would just be jealousy; they’re professional screenwriters earning a living in Hollywood, and I’m a writer who works in a warehouse and dreams of selling screenplays.
Copyright © 2023 by J. Paul Cooper
Note: This is the 100th blog post I’ve written for my website.