Story
Five years after the events of the first movie, Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is fighting eco-terrorism and has made an enemy of a mercenary sea captain, Montes (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), having thwarted his venture. Jonas is also bringing up his 14-year-old step-daughter Meiying (Sophia Cai) after the death of his partner Suyin. Suyin’s brother Jiuming (Wu Jing) is also an important adult in Meiying’s life. Jiuming is the director of Mana One, a marine biology centre which is studying a deep trench, known as the Mariana Trench. It is there they found Haiqi, a Megalodon, and they have been raising her from a baby. Jiuming is training her to respond to signals.
Haiqi, however, manages to escape captivity and so Jonas and Jiuming go down to the trench in submersibles. Meiying also joins them by hiding in the ship. Meanwhile, Montes has been hired by Jiuming’s partner, Hillary Driscoli (Sienna Guillory), to help her take over Mana One and to destroy evidence of their illegal deep-sea mining. Montes blows up the mine, killing his crew and causing a rupture in the trench which stops the submersibles in their tracks. Jonas, Jiuming and the others have to walk in exosuits to the station, amidst an area of Megalodons.
The Megalodons are on the attack and kill several of the crew. Jonas, Jiuming, Meiying and Rigas (Melissanthi Mahut) survive the trip but find that the thermocline, the barrier between the trench and the upper sea, has also been ruptured, leading to the escape of not only the Megalodons but also large amphibious lizards and a giant squid. Jonas and his team head to Fun Island to warn the happy holidaymakers of the dangers to come but find the Megalodons are already there. Jonas has to fight not only the dangerous creatures but also Montes and his men who are intent on killing him.
Themes
Science fiction; action adventure; prehistoric creatures; characters in constant peril
Violence
There is sustained action-violence throughout Meg 2: The Trench, including many fights amongst people with guns, machine guns, explosions, knives, and harpoons. Several characters are killed and/or eaten by Megalodons. Blood is often seen. Here are some examples of violent scenes:
- Haiqi smashes through the bars of her enclosure to escape.
- Megalodons chase the submersibles and the people escaping from them. Jonas fires weapons at them and one grabs hold of Meiying. Jonas manages to free her but the Megalodon eats another of the crew.
- Rigas’s exosuit explodes.
- A fight between Jonas and Montes is particularly vicious as they kick and punch each other. Montes tries to strangle Jonas with an iron bar. In another fight, later in the movie, Jonas stabs Montes in the leg with a knife and punches him in the eye.
- The scene on Fun Island is particularly prolonged with the giant lizards attacking people on the land and eating them while the Megalodons are attacking people in the water and eating them. The giant squid attacks with its long tentacles, including grabbing Meiying before Jonas cuts the tentacle off. The squid also causes a helicopter, with Jiuming in it, to crash to the ground. Jonas kills a Megalodon with a helicopter rotor. Jiuming blows up the squid with a bomb. There is lots of blood in the water.
Sexual references
Meg 2: The Trench has some sexual references. For example, a man on Fun Island asks a woman if she’d like to, ‘rub sun lotion on my back? No? What about my front?’, gesturing to his genitals.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Meg 2: The Trench has some substance use. For example:
- Drinking at a resort on Fun Island.
- At the end, the crew all drink whisky to celebrate, including one who drinks out of a bottle.
Nudity and sexual activity
Meg 2: The Trench has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- Montes kisses a woman passionately.
- Scantily clad women on Fun Island.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Meg 2: The Trench.
Coarse language
Meg 2: The Trench has some coarse language and name-calling.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Meg 2: The Trench is an action-adventure, science fiction movie. The movie contains sustained violence and threat from very large, scary creatures and is therefore not suitable for children under 12. Parental guidance is also recommended for children aged 12-13, due to the high level of violence.
The main messages from Meg 2: The Trench are to protect the environment, and to tackle problems one at a time.
Values in Meg 2: The Trench that you could reinforce with your children include, bravery and courage in the face of impossible odds, persistence and team work.
Meg 2: The Trench could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the attitudes and behaviours displayed in the movie and their real-life consequences. For example:
- Driscoli and another scientist at Mana One betray their team for money. Why are people prepared to destroy others just for money?
- Jonas was supposed to be protecting the planet but did a lot of damage to it fighting the Megalodons. Could there have been a better way to solve these problems?