Meg 2: The Trench was the follow-up to the 2018 surprise monster movie hit The Meg. That first movie starred Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor, a man who was living a solitary life after a crew he was sent to save died in a mysterious deep-ocean incident. He believed that a giant underwater creature had attacked the submarine, but the crew’s doctor deemed him mentally unfit to continue. In The Meg, Jonas returns to rescue his ex-wife, who is trapped in a deep underwater trench, only for the act to unleash two megalodons on the world.

As a sequel, Meg 2: The Trench needed to up the action and hopefully increase the number of monsters. This movie, as was the first, lives and dies as a B-grade monster movie, albeit with a much larger budget. As expected, when the film hit theaters, critics turned up their noses at Meg 2. Surprisingly, many audience members also snubbed the 2023 film, dismissing it for its scientific inaccuracy and implausible situations, making me wonder if they even knew what movie they were going to watch when they stepped into the theater.

Critics Made Meg 2 A Rotten Tomatoes Bomb

They Rated It 27% Rotten

When The Meg arrived in theaters in 2018, film critics were not that impressed. The film received a 47% Rotten Tomatoes score, while audiences gave it an even lower 44% score. However, despite this, the first movie was a mᴀssive success, making $527 million worldwide. While critics and audience members looked down on the film, it was a popular hit, and this warranted a sequel. Even when critics saw that their initial reactions to The Meg were the opposite of what theatergoers thought, they followed it up with even worse reviews for the sequel.

However, the second time around, critics and audiences saw the numbers even more divided. Critics hated Meg 2 even more than the first movie, yet audiences gave it a much higher 73% rating this time around. Neither critics nor audience members knew what to expect from the first film, which has become a cult favorite, but the second time around, audiences knew what they were getting with the sequel, while critics still seemed to hold it to a higher standard despite its monster movie leanings.

Some Critics Blasted Meg 2’s Scientific Inaccuracies

They Felt The Movie’s Events Couldn’t Have Really Happened

When looking at the criticism, there were some reasonable explanations why the critics didn’t like Meg 2: The Trench. However, there were also very bizarre reasons as to why it was so maligned. In a Reddit thread that was mostly dedicated to hating the movie, some people seemed stuck on the fact that what happened in the movie was not scientifically accurate. There were two big things that really shook people up when it came to the fictional film not being based in real-life science:

“It was the science that did me in. I’m all for wacky hand-waving of science for the purpose of suspension of disbelief! But the whole scene where they’re at the deepest part of the deepest trench of the ocean, and Statham needs to FREEDIVE through the water, and the one character laughs and goes “You don’t see fish swimming around in suits of armor, do you?”

It seems weird for the sequel to a film where Jason Statham pretty much punched a Meg in the face to get dinged for bad science. In the first movie, there were plenty of implausible scenes and events that were easily impossible. However, Meg 2 has too many people complaining about the idea that Jason Statham’s character could swim that deep without imploding, which doesn’t account for the fictional mutated fish creatures trying to kill him as well.

Critics Called Meg 2 Unrealistic

The “Unrealistic” Moments Are Creature Feature Genre Tropes

At the same time, many fans and critics felt the movie wasn’t realistic, which is another strange complaint. This is a movie about small dinosaurs that came out of the trench, another megalodon, and a kraken. Some of the complaints have merit, such as when humans have decided they can actually train a Meg with a clicker. According to Daily Beast critic Nick Schager, this was just the start of what he hated about the movie:

“One Meg has been given the name Haiqi by scientist Jiuming (Wu Jing) and is being kept in a Chinese research facility as a veritable pet. This is the height of idiocy, and the idea that hero Jonas (Statham), who previously fought one of these beasts, is OK with it makes no more sense. Then again, almost nothing in this misfire does, including Jiuming’s belief that he can use a hand clicker to train Haiqi to behave.”

However, while this is a real complaint, it is a trope of killer animal and monster movies. In Deep Blue Sea, the scientists were cloning dangerous sharks and often swimming with them. In Lake Placid, a kind senior citizen was feeding cows to giant alligators. In Jurᴀssic Park, they cloned dangerous dinosaurs for the public to peer at in a zoo-like experience. Nothing in these movies is realistic, and if they were, there wouldn’t be any danger at all.

What Was Really Wrong With Meg 2?

The Cast Was Weaker, But The Direction Was Improved

There are two things that hurt Meg 2: The Trench. For one thing, Meg 2‘s cast was a huge letdown after the first film. That first movie had great performances by Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis, Winston Chao, Ruby Rose, Page Kennedy, and Robert Taylor. Of those stars, only Statham, Curtis, and Kennedy returned. With that said, Kennedy as DJ was a highlight in the sequel, a rare character who improved himself in case something like this happened again.

Unfortunately, a now grown-up Sophia Cai as Meiying was not very good as the main female lead and Jonas’s surrogate daughter. Li Bingbing was missed, as her character of Suyin died in between the movies. While that was a big loss, it did bring up some interesting discourse, as Suyin did a lot of dumb things in the first movie that should have killed her, so it was not a surprise that she would finally die. However, the new cast in Meg 2 was not up to par with the first movie.

The other big complaint wasn’t really fair, though. Jon Turtletaub directed the first movie, and with past hits like National Treasure and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, he delivered what most fans expected. Ben Wheatley directed Meg 2, and many fans expected so much more. Wheatley remains known for dark, critically acclaimed movies like Kill List and High-Rise, and this seemed like a step-down. But honestly, everyone deserves to make a fun movie sometimes.

Meg 2 Was Meant To Be Dumb Fun

Most Critics Took The Movie Too Seriously

One fan in the aforementioned Reddit thread came to the film’s defense and had a really good explanation for why they liked it — they knew they were watching a giant monster movie. This Redditor said they were disappointed with the first movie, but loved the sequel, writing,

“If you are going to lean into ridiculous then go all the way not try to be Jaws at the same time like the first movie.. It had more underwater action, more megs, a giant squid.. I really wish I didn’t listen to the negative reviews and skipped watching it in the cinema.“

What Has Meg 2’s Cast & Crew Said About The Movie?

They Wanted It To Be A Fun Experience

It seemed almost shocking that indie horror darling Ben Wheatley took on the job of directing a movie like Meg 2: The Trench. He had mastered disturbing and often morbid movies with a lot of dark humor, and here he went all out with giant sharks and krakens battling Jason Statham, who was there to stab them in the mouth. However, when asked about his choice, he dismissed what he knew was going to be critical complaints and explained what Meg 2 was about (via The Nerds of Color):

“I mean, what we were after, what we did strive towards was like pure entertainment as much as we could you know. It was all particularly designed to be like that, to be fun. And we had fun making it so hopefully that shows… I think you basically have to love those kind of movies to start with. I grew up watching stuff like Them, the giant ant movie, and the Godzilla movies, like Gojira, and watching Ray Harryhausen movies. So I love that stuff.”

As for Page Kennedy, who went from comic relief to a more important part of the cast for Meg 2: The Trench, he had a lot of great things to say about the movie. “I go to do cool s–t this time! Before, I was more on the run, and this time, my character is a little different, he’s more prepared. Because of that preparation, we get to see him in a different light than we did before, and that’s exciting.“

Audiences Made Meg 2 A Success

Meg 2 Made Its Budget Back In Its Opening Weekend

It was a huge surprise when the first Meg movie made $527.2 million at the box office, with $381 million internationally. That made Meg 2: The Trench almost a given as a sequel, and most expected it to be a steep drop-off, as most sequels are. While it was a drop-off, it was nowhere near as bad as most might have expected. Hitting theaters in 2023, it still made $397.8 million (although only $82 million came domestically). It seems that fans worldwide didn’t care what critics had to say about the film.

Meg 2 didn’t stop there. Not only did critical reviews not affect the movie’s box office at all, but it ended up as a bigger hit when it dropped on streaming in 2024. Over a year after its release, it ended up rising up the charts and Meg 2 was even sitting in the top 10 on Prime Video in December 2024. It also streams on Max, and continues to find new fans as people discover the fun monster movie.

What Is The Future Of Meg Franchise?

Ben Wheatley Wants To Make Meg 3

When Meg 2: The Trench came out, director Ben Wheatley said that he had big ideas for a third movie and would love to direct it. With the two movies in the franchise totaling $925.1 million on a $307 million production budget (via The Numbers), it seems likely that the studio might want to keep making more movies in the franchise. As for Wheatley, here is what he had to say about coming back for Meg 3 (via Total Film):

“I hope so. There’s a lot more to explore in that world. It’s very rich. The international-ness of it is very interesting… What’s so smart about the first film is that it’s not Rush Hour. It’s not East-meets-West, ‘Oh, we’re all confused about each other… It’s just people working together, and being in an everyday adventure, and the people just happen to come from places all over the world. I think that’s good for audiences, and it’s a good message as well.”

What the story could be is anyone’s guess. The dinosaurs shown could present a Jason Statham vs. dinosaurs movie if the returning megalodons are getting a little too repeтιтive. There is also some more source material, as author Steve Altman has more books, and Meg 2 was actually based on his 1999 novel, The Trench. The third book even has Jonas as a married man with a teenage daughter 18 years later, when more Megs return. However, there are no updates on the studio’s plans for a third film.