Jon Turteltaub’sThe Megshocked the world by drawing a stunning financial return on a silly premise and one notable action star. Jason Statham, in his infinite wisdom, was quick to point out that the film’s box office take would be the deciding factor in its franchise potential. The second entry,Meg 2: The Trench, was a foregone conclusion, but does it leave room for another megalodon melee?
The humble shark movie has been a staple in Hollywood longbefore Steven Spielberg perfected it.Jawschanged the landscape of filmmaking forever by inventing the summer blockbuster, but it also opened the floodgates for a never-ending deluge of shark films. The new breed has to rely on gimmicks, like unique settings or natural disasters.The Megand its recent sequel may have selected the most straightforward selling point. What if the shark was much bigger?
RELATED:Meg 2: The Trench Review
What isMeg 2: The Trenchabout?
After the events ofThe Meg, formerrescue diver Jonas Taylorhas become something of a celebrity. Instead of retiring and enjoying the fruits of his labors, he’s taken up a new gig as an ecological justice warrior. When Taylor’s not apprehending illegal polluters, he returns to Mana One to continue mapping the mysterious region at the bottom of the ocean. Taylor and his old friends Mac and DJ return to the job with a new crew and upgraded tech. Taylor’s love interest from the previous film tragically died offscreen, leaving him the primary guardian of 14-year-old Meiying. Meiying’s uncle, Jiuming, creates a fleet of mechanized diving suits that enable humans to survive the pressure of the depths. In the meantime, he’s alsotraining a megalodon sharknamed Haiqi to respond to his commands. She’s been behaving oddly despite years of education. Taylor, Jiuming, and several other divers prepare for a routine excursion to the titular trench.
The Mana One team discovers a research base at the bottom of the trench, an area they thought accessible only to them. Haiqi escapes, revealing that it’s mating season for megalodons. They encounter Montes, the insidious leader of a secret mining operation. When Montes sees Taylor and his crew, he detonates a massive explosive charge, leaving all of them stranded and blowing a hole in the trench’s natural thermocline. Three megs escape the depths and take off towards the surface. The Mana One divers must walk three kilometers at the bottom of the ocean to reach the undersea base. They swiftly discover that the rescue vessels have been sabotaged. There’s a mole inside Mana One. Threatened on all sidesby strange marine life, Taylor, Meiying, Jiuming, and Taylor’s co-pilot Rigas reach the undersea base. They’ve lost several friends and colleagues along the way.
Taylor discovers the base has been damaged and abandoned, but its escape pods offer them a way home. After reaching the pods, the room locks down. Jess, one of the workers on Mana One, video calls the team, reveals herself as a traitor, and discards all the escape vessels. She turns over the mic tothe group’s mysterious benefactor, Driscoli. She explains that her financial backing of Mana One was a ploy to steal Jiuming’s technology and plunder the ocean for profit. Driscoli sets a team of mercenaries on Mana One to capture or kill disloyal crew members, forcing Mac and DJ to hide. Taylor and Jiuming escape the base by stealing a submersible and taking off for Mana One. One of the giant sharks smashes through the protected glass, killing Jess and endangering everyone aboard Mana One. Taylor, Jiuming, Meiying, Rigas, Mac, and DJ must outwit the mercenaries and deal with the escaped megs.
How doesMeg 2: The Trenchend?
A few action scenes later, Taylor and his friends are on a rowboat away from Mana One. Jiuming reasons that the megs will head towards the nearest land mass, a massive tropical resort called Fun Island. The mercenaries follow Taylor to the resort. The island is populated by amphibious meg pups, whoquickly start picking off the mercenaries. An adorable pup devours Driscoli. Jonas takes to the sea on a jetski with three explosive harpoons to deal with the megs. Meiying and Rigas attempt to save vacationers from the sea. Mac and Jiuming fight a giant squid while piloting a stolen helicopter.
Taylor kills one meg with a harpoon. A second meg, which turns out to be Haiqi, attacks and devours the squid to save Jiuming. Taylor kills Montes by kicking him into a meg’s mouth. He then kills the final megalodon by picking up a helicopter blade andletting it impale itself. Taylor, Jiuming, and Mac float in the ocean as a meg approaches. Jiuming identifies her as Haiqi and uses his clicker to convince her to back off. Taylor and Mac maintain that the shark isn’t friendly. Taylor, Jiuming, Meiying, Rigas, Mac, and DJ relax on the beach and share a drink after their victory.
IsMeg 2: The Trench’s ending different from the book?
Meg 2: The Trenchhas almost nothing to do with the book it’s ostensibly based on. Steve Alten’sThe Trenchfeatures a meg in captivityand more marine predators, but it has no comparable elements with the malevolent benefactor story of the film. However, the book’s conclusion does suggest where the films might go. Their captured meg is named Angel, and it also escapes captivity to engage in mating with male megs. In the final pages of the book, Angel gives birth to two pups. Look out forMeg 3, in which Taylor might have a family of megalodons on his side.
Meg 2: The Trenchdoesn’thave an end-credits scene or an unresolved cliffhanger. It delivers its sequel tease subtlety. If the franchise ends here, a distinct possibility, it’ll be a complete story. There’s plenty of room for a third entry.Meg 2delivers the same kind of set-piece-driven storytelling fans would expect.
