杏吧原创

Ben Wheatley

On general release in cinemas

Meg 2: The Trench isn鈥檛 a film that would hold up under the lightest of scrutiny by marine biologists, physicists or any number of scientists from other disciplines. The script contends with a secret, man-made mining station near the bottom of the Mariana trench, a human successfully free-diving at a depth of over 7000 metres, another quickly ascending that distance to the surface in a miraculous dive suit that prevents decompression poisoning and his lungs exploding 鈥� and, of course, a bunch of long-extinct megaladons. But Ben Wheatley鈥檚 sequel to the 2018 box office smash has so much affection for B-movie monster horrors, 90s action-thrillers and sci-fi blockbusters that its jubilant energy, especially in the final act, is simply infectious.

Jason Statham returns as Jonas Taylor, a deep-sea rescue diver-turned 鈥済reen James Bond鈥� now working with the Oceanic Institute to protect the seas and explore more of the deep-sea world beyond the thermocline layer of the Pacific Ocean, where the megs live. The first half of the film functions like a mash-up of Under Siege and 2020鈥檚 Underwater. The foreboding tone reflects the dark and disquieting world Jonas鈥檚 team 鈥� made up of eccentric tech billionaire Jiuming (Wu Jing), his niece Meiying (Sophia Cai) and a few disposable characters 鈥� head to on their latest mission to the trench.

The megs and other prehistoric predatory creatures, including a kraken-like squid and amphibious聽giant lizards, provide some delicious jump scares and horror-laden chase sequences. These CGI monsters look far more effective underwater than above the surface, but they aren鈥檛 the only threat 鈥� there is a villainous plot to pillage rare-earth minerals for nefarious capitalistic purposes, and Statham must put his action hero skills to work against a mercenary with a grudge.

The energy shifts to a more boisterously kitsch tone once the survivors get back to dryish land. The sea predators (including three new megs and a young female that Jiuming had been inexplicably training in captivity) followed them through a rupture in the thermocline to the perfectly named 鈥淔un island鈥�. They must protect the island鈥檚 population of tasty holiday-makers while fending off gun-toting henchmen working for an evil, sea-plundering boss.

Nods to the Jurassic Park and Jaws franchises are intentional, with lots of people dying in hilarious and entertaining ways 鈥� both in terms of sight-gags and inventive camera shots. Wheatley鈥檚 killer humour definitely shines when one couple is still holding their cocktails as they try to pedalo away from a meg. Another shot from inside of a meg鈥檚 mouth as it eats swimmers is excellent. There is some very cheesy dialogue and Statham delivers some corny one-liners, but he, like all of the cast, is in on the joke. This is a very silly concept that might be full of scientific inaccuracies, but it still manages to deliver laugh-out-loud fun.