“Meg 2” dives into bad sequel territory

Dive 1 and Dive 2 dove through the thermocline, attempting to escape their beloved pet megalodon, Haiqi. To avoid any more attention, the crews switch on their low-frequency lights and speed to reach the other side of the thermocline.

Led by Jonas Taylor, the main protagonist and marine diver, they reach the trench but soon notice not one, not two, but three megalodons swimming together (despite them being solitary creatures). Jiuming Zhang, the director of the dive, decides to change the plan and follow the sharks through an unknown sector, risking their lives.

“Meg 2: The Trench” was a letdown compared to its prequel, “The Meg.” This film was released on Aug. 3. The films are loosely based on the novel “Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror,” written in 1997 by Steve Alten.

The first movie set a suspenseful tone, given that it was the characters’ first encounter with the prehistoric shark. However, most of the information regarding the shark was already revealed to the scientists by the second movie, causing the film to lack any true excitement. “Meg 2” had a lot of unrealistic scenes and added a lot of pointless characters, and there were no ties to these characters on an emotional level.

The worst aspect was despite having “Meg” in its title, megalodons weren’t even depicted throughout most of the film. Instead of focusing on the megalodons, the plot largely revolved around people wanting to assassinate Taylor and his crew. The megalodons appeared at the beginning of the movie to set the premise of the film, and only reappeared near the very end to add another challenge to his attempt to escape death.

Taylor, along with most of his friends, should have died to the megalodon at many points throughout the movie, but by some unrealistic means, they manage to survive. On the other hand, the antagonists conveniently die ridiculously easily.