Meg 2: The Trench
Director: Ben Wheatley
Year Released: 2023
Rating: 1.5
Eco-warrior Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), his sneaky 14-year-old step-daughter Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai), scientist Jiuming (Wu Jing) and a crew of others take a submersible deep into the Mariana Trench to do more research on megalodons (dinosaur sharks) and they uncover a rogue operation mining rare materials, but their vessel malfunctions (it was sabotaged) and then find out they were betrayed by philanthropist Hillary Driscoll (Sienna Guillory). If Jaws was the main "inspiration" for the first one, then this unimaginatively "borrows" from Cameron's The Abyss then Aliens and, for the conclusion at "Fun Island," Jurassic Park ... except with jet skis (and a giant octopus). Statham is a top-tier action star, however, and he really commits to the role (that's what I call a true professional). The real question is how they managed to land a PG-13 rating the second time in a row with so many people being chomped and swallowed ... but I guess if you leave out the blood, you're good to go (according to the MPAA).