Meg 2: The Trench

"It's a meg, and you're a snack!" Nope. The introduction might suggest that this monstrous creature was at the top of the food chain in the Jurassic period, but now, in the Statham era, it's just "under pressure." That is, if it even gets to speak at all. Thanks to Cliff Curtis's character for adding some humor; otherwise, it's a disgustingly digital carcass full of inserted Chinese figures, devoid of blood, and mostly as dumb as a village idiot's child and a member of parliament. I'm megproof; Ben Wheatley wrote himself into the Kill List. (09/10/2023)

Meg 2 is for me a weaker sequel to the more entertaining first film. Ben Wheatley wasn't the best choice to direct. This controversial director of slowburns and weird indies couldn't bring any spark to an entertaining shark blockbuster. Jason Statham is still likeable and Wu Jing is always a pleasure to see (too bad he didn't get a fight), the rest of the characters don't impress at all. Visually it's ok (the CGI was occasionally jarring, but in a digestible form), but the atmosphere is completely missing, I felt it's not even as suspenseful as the first one (which had countless cool jump-scares too). The humour is not good (in the first one the black guy talking was hilarious), it was a bit drier. It's nice that there are new monsters (the octopus could have been given more space and they definitely could have added more animals from the underwater world), the Megs are fine but I felt like they weren't on the scene as often as I would have liked. The film unnecessarily dwells on the human villains, which no one is curious about. The first half in the trench is fine, but once it moves into the second half the fun drops off, you could definitely feel that Wheatley is not able to make an entertaining film off rails. It's watchable, but a tad weaker than the more entertaining first film. 55% (27/08/2023)

Until you look into the dark with a flashlight and walk on the ocean floor, I remembered the recent and forgotten Underwater and wondered why it does not add to the number of attractions and exaggeration. And then Jason Statham activates his cheats and brings an even bigger fireworks display than I dared to hope for. The confessed loving approach to B-movies, which drives the main character to Superman-like abilities, may not be possible to overcome, and trying to do so on a similar scale may also be a bit of a shame. (12/08/2023)

An idiot firmly attached to the Chinese titties full of giggles and with her head buried up to her ears in her ass. There are digital beasts running around in a colouring book backdrop, and it's probably meant to thrill you, scare you, or whatever. Yes, I was horrified by the idea that there are potentially viewers who experience suspense or entertainment at something like this, I'd rather stick my hand in the fishbowl and have my thumb chewed off by a moray eel instead. I like Statham's work, but if some no name Chinese guy took over his role here, nothing would happen. Jason, you're better off in Ritchie's stable, you're too good for this shit. (24/10/2023)

Unlike the first one, I had fun, unexpectedly a lot. And that's definitely a plus for a film whose premise nobody could possibly take seriously. Meg 2, thanks to its B-movie sincerity, from my point of view trumped, for example, the second and third Jurassic World, and most of all it reminded me of Emmerich's Godzilla. No matter what happens, you know it's going to turn out well, and if the director is smart, he can surprise you a few times; he can afford to make references to Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Indiana Jones, and offer some really cool moments, like the one with the camera inside the big shark's mouth. (31/08/2023)