Hollywood will eventually use AI to write some movie scripts, and if you want a sneak preview of what that will be like, check out “Meg 2: The Trench.” Although it has three credited human writers, the plot is the same as “Deep Blue Sea” in the first half, then borrows from “The Abyss” for a while, then repeats the original film’s plot – also penned by this trio – in the final act.
But the big finale does highlight prehistoric monsters, unleashed from beneath the “thermocline” – Vernean sci-fi invented in the first film – including a kraken and faster, better swimming versions of crocodiles. Starting with the introduction of “Fun Island” (as labeled on the screen), “Meg 2” rises to mediocrity from its initial depths of boredom.
The cast also expands a little, because not everyone from 2018’s “The Meg” needed the money that badly, so new characters enter. Jason Statham again heads up a cast, all of whom — simply by being working Hollywood actors — are better than the material.
“Meg 2: The Trench” (2023)
Director: Ben Wheatley
Writers: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Dean Georgaris; based on Steve Alten’s novel
Stars: Jason Statham, Jing Wu, Shuya Sophia Cai
Watercolor by numbers
Reasonably entertaining films can be built upon paint-by-numbers plots, as “Meg 2” figures out by the final act. Until then, it’s missing a hook. The first film had Rainn Wilson’s comedic leanings as he played a money-grubbing corporate head, plus a cute relationship (but Li Bingbing apparently didn’t need the money badly enough to return) and a precocious kid (Sophia Kai, who is back as Meiying, a little brattier now).
While “The Meg” wasn’t a masterpiece, it was the first big-budget film about the biggest shark known to have existed, and it was kind of fun.
For the sequel, the plot initially comes from “Deep Blue Sea” – which itself took its plot from “Jurassic Park,” repurposing it for the water (and “JP” itself evolved from “Westworld” and “Jaws 3”). But intangible elements like tension-building, world-building and quirky character traits are notably absent.
Things happen, and people exist, in the world of “Meg 2,” but none of it feels real, even in a fictional context. For example, the aquatic facility holding a megalodon is clearly high-tech, yet when a meg escapes its pen, no one is immediately aware of it.
And later, an ocean-floor drilling facility just suddenly exists, without any of our ocean-based professionals knowing about it.
Release the kraken
Science isn’t a big concern of “Meg 2,” especially obvious when Statham’s Jonas goes swimming without a protective suit beneath the thermocline. The movie is so consistently dumb that it deserves an eyebrow raise for tossing us some dialog about how if Jonas pushes all air out of his respiratory system, he’ll withstand the pressure. No mention is made of the temperature, but I guess I can’t be picky.
Statham, of course, is able to pull this off, because he’s an action hero. And one with a certain amount of charisma. I’m always expecting something like a clever one-liner or an awesome skill, but – with rare exceptions (“See ya later, chum”) – the film remains staunchly generic as Ben Wheatley directs the rote exercise.
The real heroes of “Meg 2” are the digital effects artists. Even though the megs (with cool scars suggesting the brutality of sub-thermocline life) and kraken and prehistoric crocodiles do look digital – and even though the shallows around Fun Island take absurdly long to clear out after the initial attack — the action scenes are serviceable, silly entertainment.
I wouldn’t have cared if even the little girl got eaten by a meg, though, because she (like everyone else) doesn’t register as real. It’s almost like prehistory has invaded post-history, where studios are genuinely considering using AI-written screenplays to save a few bucks.
But the intangible elements that can only come from engaged creative people still are necessary – if a movie is intended to be good. Which, admittedly, may never have been the case with “Meg 2: The Trench.”