Common Sense Media Review
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Moments of fun in routine, violent giant-shark sequel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Meg 2: The Trench
What's the Story?
In MEG 2: THE TRENCH, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) and his old pal, Mac (Cliff Curtis), are now working with the Zhang Institute, occasionally running off to tangle with eco terrorists before getting back to the business at hand: giant sharks. The head of the institute, Jiuming (Wu Jing), has a megalodon in captivity and is trying to train it, while Jonas has become the cautious stepfather of Meiying (Sophia Cai), who's now 14. She wants to go on adventures like Jonas, but he wants to keep her safe. When the crew prepares for a deep-sea dive under the freezing-cold thermocline layer, Meiying stows away. On the ocean floor, the team discovers an illegal mining operation, as well as more megs. Even worse, after an explosion traps them, the crew discovers that they have a traitor in their midst. Jonas must find a way to save the crew and head off the sharks (as well as a new kind of killer amphibian and a giant octopus) before the deadly creatures get to the nearest populated area, a vacation resort called Fun Island.
Is It Any Good?
A tiny improvement over its predecessor, this giant-shark sequel sometimes seems to be reveling in its own B movie-ness, but it also falls victim to lazy turns of plot and routine action. For Meg 2: The Trench, subversive director Ben Wheatley takes over from The Meg's safer Jon Turteltaub, and he manages some fun touches, like DJ (Page Kennedy) now being trained and ready for any emergency, Jonas killing a shark with the blade of a crashed helicopter, or the whole "Fun Island" conceit. But Wheatley is also hamstrung by the clear need to keep the movie teen-friendly, which means he can only go so far.
Moreover, the plot is so mechanical that it manages to rob the movie of any sense of wonder or suspense. For instance, the magic of discovering a new bit of ocean is railroaded in favor of revealing the secret mining operation. If Steven Spielberg -- whose Jurassic Park movies are a direct inspiration for this one -- had been in charge, we would at least have had a few minutes to admire beautiful new fish and plant life before the carnage began. Meg 2: The Trench knows no such pacing or finesse. And, just as in its predecessor, the fake-looking CG visual effects result in fake-looking monsters, now twice as boring as before.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Meg 2: The Trench's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of scary movies? Why do people sometimes enjoy being scared?
What's the appeal of shark movies? Why are so many people fascinated by them? Did you learn anything from this movie?
Does Jonas' motto -- "We work the problems one by one. We do the thing that's in front of us. Then we do the next thing." -- make sense? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why?
What kind of message about the environment does the movie send? Does it suggest ways of getting involved? What are some positive ways of helping?
Movie Details
- In theaters : August 4, 2023
- On DVD or streaming : August 25, 2023
- Cast : Jason Statham , Wu Jing , Cliff Curtis
- Director : Ben Wheatley
- Inclusion Information : Polynesian/Pacific Islander Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Topics : Animals ( Ocean Creatures )
- Run time : 116 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : action/violence, some bloody images, language and brief suggestive material
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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