With the new Meg II movie coming out many shark movie fans are wondering… “Is it worth the watch?” As a shark movie fan myself I went to go watch the movie to find out. After watching it I have decided it is not entirely accurate but it is definitely worth the watch. The movie starts in the Cretaceous period and already the dragonfly the movie shows is a completely inaccurate size for the Cretaceous period. The movie takes place in the “Philippine Sea” where the main character, Jonas, illegally breaches a private ship to gather evidence of waste dumping. Meiying’s Uncle, Jiuming Zhang develops an exo-suit capable of withstanding the pressure under the thermo layer (A thermocline is a layer in the ocean at which the water’s temperature drops much more rapidly than the water above or below it.) Jiuming has a massive company to help support ocean environments and research.
After the death of mom in the meg I, Jonas adopts Meiying. They have a captive meg but one complaint is they did not show how they sustained her. The captive meg not only stops mid-swimming but also the area where she’s “looking” would realistically be a blind spot for her. A good amount of this movie is in Chinese with English subtitles. This really fleshes out the characters and area in which the thermolayer resides.
Against her better judgment Meiying sneaks on the sub which is forced to dive to lose the escaped meg. The sub goes to investigate meg congregation where they come to find out its breeding area. This is a cool detail as this relates to modern day great white sharks which have a certain breeding place they migrate too. The plants at the bottom of this trench however, make no sense as plants do not grow anywhere over 1,000 meters below the surface and the light levels are too low for photosynthesis to sustain life.
Explosives that rip a hole in the thermal border and destroy the trench causing both subs to crash. This is an interesting detail but scientifically possible with large explosives. Teams recoup and put on two hour air suits to walk the trench. With the depth being at 25,000 feet their lights go way further then they should. The stonefish-like creature is a cool detail though.
Underground mining company was the cause of the explosion as they turned to murder to keep their operation a secret. The creatures bearing resemblance to Sclerocephalus still have legs after millions of years trapped underwater. This is a big problem as living there for years and years natural selection would have made the creatures lose their legs and ability to breathe air and natural selection. Three of the crew members die wild making their way to the underwater base
Base is quite thin with those thin materials they’d crush under pressure. Unrealistic he definitely wouldn’t survive that long without a pressure suit. The team soon learns there’s a rat in the company.
I love how DJ and James ‘Mac’ Mackreides successfully use mundane weapons to get away from armed guards as many weapons in movies seem to magically not work or lose their effect. I also really like DJ’s character development as he learns how to swim and betters himself. Dog from the first movie was a funny addition to the movie though unnecessary. Jonas learns from his mistake in the first movie and does not make a promise to Meiying. My last comment is the drop of blood in water as there was a lot of blood already in the water so the idea that a single drop would attract a meg is ridiculous. Overall the movie was decent and worth the watch.
