Connor Bynum // Film Critic
MEG 2: THE TRENCH
If you skipped out on MEG 2: THE TRENCH when it splashed into theaters earlier this year, you’re certainly not alone. With astoundingly poor critical reception and an equally disappointing box office return, it’s easy to see why this ill-fated sequel failed to make any waves with audiences. I bet you also didn’t know that the movie is now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray. That’s right, with only a measly two months after releasing in theaters, it seems Warner Bros. is desperate to send this chum bucket out to sea and move on. But on the bright side, the 4K quality of this movie is actually pretty good.
Movie Grade: D-
From our theatrical review:
“One of the benefits of the original MEG movie is that it kept its plot lean and clean: expert diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) comes into contact with a mega-shark and is recruited into a team of experts to defeat it. Yet in this second chapter of Jonas’ ongoing exploits, returning screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber and Dean Georgaris (adapting Steve Alten’s novel “The Trench”) bend over backward to over-complicate matters with a dreadfully rote, reductive tale involving malevolent deep sea mining and underhanded business dealings rather than focusing on the monsters inhabiting and inevitably escaping the Trench again. They lean further into its JURASSIC PARK inspiration, blatant cribbing from it, but in doing so, demonstrate their lack of understanding of what made that film satiating and successful.
Jonas, now an eco-vigilante taking down criminals with Mac (Cliff Curtis) and Rigas (Melissanthi Mahut) at his side, is called upon once again by China’s Oceanic Institute for help. Since the death of Zhang (Winston Chao) in the first film, it’s been run by his son Jiuming (Jing Wu), who’s also taken on the familial responsibility of raising his recently deceased sister Suyin’s (Bingbing Li) precocious-but-not-precocious-enough 14-year-old daughter Meiying (Shuya Sophia Cai). He, along with the director of the institute, Hilary Driscoll (Sienna Guillory), has a young megalodon in their possession, raised in captivity to study and train.
However, on the eve of Jiuming and Jonas’ research dive into the Mariana Trench with their elite team, the mini-Meg very easily busts out of the facility and follows them into the unknown underworld. There, they find more Megs, a menacingly scarred behemoth, a giant squid, and prehistoric “Snappers,” alligator-sized dinos.
Ropey visual effects (akin to a SyFy original movie) prevail with little production value in these characters’ dry and wet environments. High-tech gadgets – like the exo-suits, resembling slimmed-down versions of those in EDGE OF TOMORROW, and the submersibles – are sleek and look like they swallowed most of this film’s budget. The action-driven spectacle is horribly conceived and constructed. The punches don’t land (literally and figuratively in the sloppy edit), and the stunt choreography is underwhelming.
The populist “turn your brain off” argument holds no water when applied here. Our brains, even in a borderline comatose stasis, would find the proceedings disappointing and disheartening. There’s no underlying commentary whatsoever, not on man’s hubris in scientific exploration nor on the gross nature of sequel-building. It’s all superficial and toothless. Narrative logistics barely add up and elicit a big “who cares” reaction when they do. Things just transpire without much rhyme or reason, and we’re forced to accept it. Character development is piss poor, especially egregious when it comes to Jiuming’s discoveries and Hilary’s hidden machinations. Relationships between the characters – like Jonas and Meiying, as well as Jonas and Jiuming – aren’t properly fleshed out and don’t hold a candle to THE MEG’s central, notably feminist dynamic between Jonas and Suyin.
But we deserve better than this bloated, rotting cinematic carcass.”
Video/Audio Grade: B+
So yeah, things are not off to the best start. However, the visual and audio quality of the 4K presentation fares far better than that of the film itself. Presented in a native 4K resolution, MEG 2: THE TRENCH looks just about as pristine as one would expect for a 4K UHD film released in 2023. Textures on skins, costumes, and practical sets all look fantastic and have the standard 4K pop audiences should be used to at this point with the format. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the computer-generated elements in the film. The Megs themselves look fine enough, but it’s the alligator dinosaur creatures that simply never look like they’re properly blending into the world. They always have this unnerving separation from any live-action elements, which honestly probably wouldn’t be as noticeable if they were viewed on a standard Blu-ray disc.
The HDR presentation is also considerably better than with the previous film. Whether it was somehow related to the settings of my display when I reviewed the first film on 4K upon its release, the brightness levels were significantly overblown for that disc. As for the sequel, we are treated to either Dolby Vision or HDR10, depending on your player and display capabilities. Both options offer exceptional results. The first half of the film, taking place mostly with the titular Trench, means that almost every shot is intentionally underlit. The HDR on this disc makes those scenes considerably more bearable and, dare I say it, enjoyable to watch. The second half contrasts with the first, taking place on the surface with clear blue skies and beautiful tropical locales juxtaposed with ludicrous PG-13 levels of carnage. Those brighter and more colorful scenes are fantastic to watch in this format.
We’re also treated to a perfectly fine Dolby Atmos audio track, which pairs down to a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix if you don’t have an Atmos setup. The underwater scenes sound great, with plenty of fun effects of ocean life swimming around our characters, waiting for their moment to strike. Gunfire and explosions also sound great on both mixes, and the dialogue comes through crystal clear.
Extras Grade: C
It seems that Warner Bros has done away with the inclusion of standard 1080p Blu-rays for their 4K releases. So, with no standard Blu-ray to dump the extras onto, the choice seems to be to have them included on the 4K disc or not at all. Fortunately, there are some bonus features included on the 4K disc, but only two of them. It’s nice that they’re included, but to be honest, I can’t imagine a ton of viewers would care enough to give them a look. They’re broken down below.
- The Making of MEG 2: THE TRENCH (13:02)
- Up From the Depths: Even More Beasts (9:40)
Final Grade: C
So, if a mostly good-looking bad movie is your thing, MEG 2: THE TRENCH should satisfy such an itch. Yes, the 4K quality is pretty great for the live-action elements, and the HDR quality is exceptional. But does that really justify adding this clunker to your collection? There are plenty of good-looking 4K discs out there that are also good movies. This is simply not one of them.
