The Meg starring Jason Statham, was roasted by critics when it released in 2018. The film was criticized for being another shark thriller that doesn’t even come close to Jaws. While I’m not a big fan of Jaws, I can agree that the film was strongly mediocre. It was a very forgettable venture. Not for Warner Bros. though, as it performed well at the box office collecting $530.2 million on a budget of somewhere around $130-178 million. This is when the studio decided to give us a sequel to an already mediocre film. What fun! Anyways, 5 years later- we have Meg 2: The Trench. After a truly terrible trailer, no one had any expectations from The Meg sequel. Everyone expected it to be a guilty pleasure thriller with no cinematic quality. However, what the film has done has shaken Hollywood.
Meg 2: The Trench Reviews Round-Up – A Shark Sized Disappointment!
Meg 2: The Trench is releasing tomorrow and the media embargo for it was just lifted, a day before. Whenever, the embargo for a movie lifts just before its release, trust me that movie is going to be bad. The only reason the studio restricts the critics to speak their mind is because it will affect the image of the film negatively and will lead to bad word of mouth before the release. Oppenheimer’s embargo was lifted 3-4 days before its release because Universal knew that the critic reviews will help the film’s marketing and not damage it.
Meg 2: The Trench must be a truly terrible film as we still don’t have all the reviews just yet. However, the six reviews we have gotten so far on Rotten Tomatoes has resulted in a record breaking opening score ever, in a bad way. Meg 2 has a 0% score leading to an obvious ROTTEN rating. Here are some of the reviews I could gather.
Doug Jamieson (The Jam Report) – “A follow-up that once again fails to take advantage of its outlandish premise.” Original Score: 2/5
Pablo O. Scholz (Clarín) – “The movie goes from one set piece to another until it reaches a climax, or something like it, where the level of eccentricities (if we’re being kind) or antics (if we’re being honest), becomes an incredulous menace.” Original Score: 2/4
Graeme Tuckett (Stuff.co.nz) – “I reckon it’s pretty much a perfect lesson in what not to do, if you’re planning a sequel to a simple and likeable film about a big fish.” Original Score: 2.5/5
James Marsh (South China Morning Post) – “What is sorely lacking in Wheatley’s toothless sequel is bloody carnage and a sense of fun. It is not violent enough for the horror crowds, but perhaps too abrasive for the whole family to enjoy.” Original Score: 2/5
Casey Chong (Fiction Horizon) – “Ben Wheatley’s guilty-pleasure shark sequel lacks bite.” Original Score: 5.5/10
Peter Gray (The AU Review) – “There’s potential fun to be had with a very obvious C-grade creature feature; you just have to sit through far too much unnecessary “plot” to get to it.” Original Score: 2/5
Along with Jason Statham the film stars Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai and Sienna Guillory. The sequel is directed by Ben Wheatley with the screenplay from Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, and Dean Georgaris, based on the 1999 novel The Trench by Steve Alten.
Meg 2: The Trench will release in theatres near you on 4th August 2023.
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