Ben Wheatley’s prehistoric shark sequel comes adrift in a surfeit of new lizardy threats, a clunking screenplay and a total lack of onscreen chemistry
It’s hard to imagine that a film in which Jason Statham kicks a juggernaut-sized prehistoric shark in the teeth might turn out to be a colossal bore, but here we are. Despite the Stath-v-megalodon foot-to-face interaction; despite numerous shots of gigantic, battle-scarred fins hurtling at speed towards the camera; despite Ben Wheatley – a man who knows his way around pulpsploitation flicks – in the director’s seat, the sequel to the deep-sea monster attack movie The Meg is a dinosaur-shaped dud.
In the quest to be bigger, scarier and showier than the first film, The Meg 2 brazenly steals from other pictures (think Jurassic Shark) and throws a bunch of extra creatures into the mix. Not only are there multiple megalodons; there is a pack of ocean-dwelling fish-lizard-creatures so savage that they seem to have an extra set of teeth on their chins. There’s an unheralded tentacled monster that appears out of nowhere to beef up the third-act climax.
