387: Meg 2: The Trench

[00:00:00] 95. Let's get to Meg to the Trench, which is currently available on both Netflix

[00:00:08] and Max. It's directed by Ben Wheatley, stars Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Sophia Call,

[00:00:15] Paige Kennedy. Not really a big cast. And the synopsis is Jonas Taylor leads a

[00:00:22] research team on exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their

[00:00:27] voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens

[00:00:32] their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.

[00:00:37] So this one came out I think in summer of last year. I had not seen the Meg, the

[00:00:43] first one, until like right before this one came out and I didn't see this one

[00:00:47] until a few months later for the first time. I am a big sucker for shark movies.

[00:00:52] I just like shark survival attack films, like horror films. I love Jaws like many

[00:00:58] do but I'm a sucker for like B-movie shark films like 47 Meters Down, that

[00:01:03] sort of thing. And so in some ways this was right up my alley, this franchise

[00:01:09] now I guess you can call it. I don't think the first one blew me away so I

[00:01:13] wasn't really like excited to see this one but the thing that drew me in the

[00:01:18] most and it still baffles me as to why this happened, I don't understand why Ben

[00:01:23] Wheatley directed this. Like good for him that he got a big movie. I know that if

[00:01:28] I had been like an indie director and I got the chance to make a huge movie, do

[00:01:32] it absolutely. So I'm not criticizing him but he you know did like Free Fire, Kill

[00:01:39] List, High Rise, Rebecca the remake. Like he's a very unique bizarre art house

[00:01:47] filmmaker who I've loved for years. I think the first thing I saw was High Rise

[00:01:51] and I've seen everything he's done to this point and when I first started

[00:01:56] watching this I didn't even realize he had directed it until I think the end

[00:02:00] actually. And what is most disappointing is, I get it because it's a big

[00:02:06] blockbuster sequel, there is not a hint in my opinion being a bit of a Ben

[00:02:12] Wheatley fan head. There's not like a hint of Ben Wheatley in this movie. Like

[00:02:17] if you know his films, this one felt like anybody could have directed it. There's

[00:02:23] no real stylistic choices that are unexpected or uncommon. Like visually

[00:02:29] it's very plain. The stuff underwater, the horror elements, very generic. Like I can

[00:02:36] understand if he's like alright I got a big movie getting a big paycheck

[00:02:40] getting my name out there I'm just gonna do this and you know reap the

[00:02:45] rewards I guess. Which I get it again but from a critical standpoint, a overall

[00:02:53] quality standpoint, I was so let down. I was like oh wow that's so cool and I was

[00:02:57] like there is nothing in this that reminds me of recent or previous Ben

[00:03:03] Wheatley films. So that was my biggest shock of all. But I think just talking

[00:03:10] not only, that's not a huge deal if that was still a good movie but I don't think

[00:03:15] it is. I think it's pretty bad. I like the first one decently. I think it's

[00:03:19] watchable, it's fairly simple, the shark attack stuff is good and I like the

[00:03:24] overall idea of the Meg and bringing that creature back. But in this one, like

[00:03:30] another huge thing, the Meg is barely even in it. Like I felt like most of it

[00:03:34] took place on land. A lot of it was dealing with other sort of conflicts and

[00:03:40] dangers when they're underwater and I felt like this was barely even a shark

[00:03:45] movie. Like this could have just been a summer, I don't know Jurassic World movie

[00:03:50] or something. Like there's so little shark in it to me at least maybe if

[00:03:56] I'm in the minority. But that was a huge issue. Everybody, Jason Statham I've

[00:04:02] talked about a lot recently. I like him in general. Now he's grown on me and

[00:04:05] check out the recent reviews that I've done of his films in the show notes. I

[00:04:09] listed them there. He has nothing to do in this. He's pretty bland. I don't fully

[00:04:14] blame him but there's nothing to that character and the rest of the cast

[00:04:18] really uninteresting. Like no one really of good charisma, the writing is terrible,

[00:04:25] for the most part. So I'd say it's one of the worst blockbusters of last

[00:04:30] summer that I've seen, which I've seen most now I'm pretty sure. Maybe I'll go

[00:04:34] back and rewatch it at some point if I'm desperate for a shark movie but I think

[00:04:38] if I had to pick would always pick the first Meg and then most other shark

[00:04:43] movies over this. I think 47 Meters Down is better and a couple others are better

[00:04:48] than this one too. So I would not recommend it. I would be curious to know

[00:04:53] your thoughts. If you liked it, didn't like it, whatever. What are your favorite

[00:04:57] shark movies? If you're listening to this on YouTube or somewhere else you can

[00:05:01] comment please let me know or let me know on Letterboxd, whatever. So that is a

[00:05:07] one and a half out of five. Now's the time to start your next adventure behind

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