The Trench’ Somehow Makes Jason Statham Battling Giant Prehistoric Sharks Even Less Interesting Than the Last Time

John Turteltaub’s The Meg could not have been an excellent film, however it was a massively profitable one nonetheless. Regardless of conspiring to show the straightforward, wondrous, and unhinged conceit of “Jason Statham battles a large prehistoric shark” into one thing extremely bland and formulaic, it nonetheless earned over half a billion {dollars} on the field workplace. Naturally, a sequel was inevitably introduced, however Meg 2: The Trench has by some means managed to sink even decrease than its predecessor.

Whereas no person was anticipating an avant garde experimental successor, the hiring of Ben Wheatley as director appeared to be a masterstroke on paper. In any case, that is the singular filmmaker behind such wildly diverse however equally participating options as Kill Record, A Subject in England, Excessive-Rise, Free Fireplace, and Within the Earth. Certain, not all of them managed to hit their meant targets, however you possibly can’t deny that every of them are unquestionably the work of their creator and architect in chief, one thing that may’t be stated of his leap to the studio system.

A few eye-catching pictures apart, Meg 2 might have actually been made by anyone, with the whole working time coated within the sheen of artifice and murky CGI soup that’s neutered many a blockbuster. Clearly, it will be ridiculous to anticipate a sequel about a number of Megalodons (and even a large squid) to be beholden to sensible results, however the first hour of The Trench – which fittingly largely unfolds within the titular wasteland – is the standard strolling, speaking, expository sludge we’ve been served up numerous occasions earlier than, with nary a flash of creativity or creative flourish to make it stand out from the pack.

The opening act – which feels as if it drags on for an eternity – is endemic of the movie’s issues. Admittedly, there’s a zippy opening motion sequence that reintroduces Statham’s lead (Jonas Taylor, in case you forgot, however it’s mainly Statham doing Statham) as a badass eco-warrior, after which we’re straight off to exposition city.

With Li Bingbing written out of the franchise, the main focus falls on Wu Jing to take the place of resident Chinese language megastar, which he very a lot is after his current appearances in Wolf Warrior 2, The Wandering Earth and its sequel, and two-part conflict epic The Battle at Lake Changjin mixed to earn an astonishing $3.7 billion on the field workplace. He’s basically the co-lead of kinds, which implies he’s tasked to hold simply as a lot of the load as his chromed-domed reverse quantity.

Six years on from the opener, Bingbing’s Suyin Zhang is off-handedly talked about as being lifeless, with Jing’s uncle Jiuming and Statham’s Taylor assuming co-parenting duties for Sophia Cai’s now 14 year-old Meiying. She desires to comply with in her mom’s footsteps and discover the depths of the ocean, they are saying she’s not prepared, she does it anyway, after which issues find yourself going sideways. Jiuming says he’s educated a Meg, all people doubts him, it finally ends up escaping, after which issues find yourself going sideways. Rinse and repeat, the narrative is glad to chop and paste probably the most primary storylines and subplots conceivable.

Clearly, creativeness isn’t Meg 2‘s strongest go well with, which turns into even clearer when a conspiracy presents itself that’s extremely straightforward to unravel, which it then does itself about quarter-hour later. From there, human enemies are thrown into the combination as Sergio Peris-Mencheta’s mercenary Montes surreptitiously mines the deepest recesses of the seabed for revenue, however it’s nigh-on unattainable to care when everyone seems to be so one-dimensional.

The scenes within the trench are obligated to be darkish given they unfold in a spot the place pure gentle could be very exhausting to come back by, however there’s no sense of urgency or propulsion in watching cannon fodder characters get devoured up by inconsistently-rendered CGI beasties. It occurs as a result of the principles of huge funds filmmaking say so, and whereas there’s nothing inherently flawed with ticking containers that should be ticked, it will have been good had been Wheatley in a position to make use of a distinct shade of pen from all people else.

The Meg has apparent potential to be a enjoyable franchise, however no person concerned has ever appeared remotely within the two clearest instructions with which to attain that aim. On one hand, there’s the chance to lean into horror and craft a ludicrously costly train in aquatic terror that embraces the very fact nature’s oldest and largest killing machines are again with a vengeance and hungrier than ever, which was by no means going to occur when a PG-13 ranking is required to justify the expense.

Then again, embracing the camp silliness of all of it – alongside the traces of the gratuitously superb Piranha 3D – and planting tongue firmly in cheek would comfortably ratchet up the leisure issue. Certain, there are a few these moments planted all through – as a result of you possibly can’t not take the chance to have Statham driving a jet ski wielding selfmade harpoon explosives and taking up a trio of Megalodons by himself ought to it come up – however The Trench continues taking itself far too critically for probably the most half.

Within the cruelest twist of irony, the grandstanding third act finale actually unfolds at a spot known as “Enjoyable Island,” with the whole lot together with the kitchen sink being thrown into the combination. There’s sharks, dinosaurs, a cephalopod, jet skis, helicopters, weapons, explosions, helicopters, blood, enamel, a recurring “does the canine die?” gag, and nearly the rest you possibly can consider, however it’s all so haphazardly edited and ineffectually staged that even the cash pictures seen within the trailer are barely well worth the paper they’re printed on.

Wheatley little question has it in his toolbox to ship an action-packed extravaganza that doesn’t simply really feel as if it was the results of a mandated checklist of bullet factors handed to him by the studio, however Meg 2: The Trench ain’t it. There’s extra sharks, extra Statham, and a confirmed director of eccentric genre-bent oddities on the helm, and but it’s by some means even worse than the primary one.