CAN I KICK IT? (THE MEG 2: THE TRENCH)

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Jason Statham is hard.

We know this because his marine environmentalist Jonas Taylor punched a giant shark in the first Meg.

How can he top that?

Well, the answer can be found in Ben Wheatley's 'Meg 2: The Trench'.

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Essentially a smorgasbord of action sequences held together by a far fetched plot, the movie sees him and his mates taking on marine dumpers, giant sharks, gun toting villains, lizard like creatures and a huge octopus.

Like its predecessor 'The Meg,'  'Meg 2: The Trench' is a supersize monster adventure.

The only difference is this time  it has a hugely respected indie director at the helm - Englishman Ben Wheatley who has given us movies such as 'Kill List,' 'A Field In England,' 'Sightseers,' 'Free Fire,' 'High Rise' 'Rebecca' and 'Happy New Year, Colin Burstead'.

Wheatley was a surprise choice to take over from Jon Turteltaub who directed the first instalment but he's also an exciting one.

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One of Britain's most exciting directors, he has a strong sense of cinema.

He also has a background in comedy, having worked as a writer on Armando Iannucci's BBC2 satirical show 'Time Trumpet' and directed episodes of BBC3's Johnny Vegas sitcom 'Ideal'.

Wheatley's not above dabbling in popular adventure too - directing episodes of BBC1's sci-fi show 'Doctor Who' in 2014 with Peter Capaldi as the Timelord.

He brings an awful lot to the party and this is one of those parties that goes for excess.

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Adapted by Jon and Erich Hoeber and Dean Geogaris from Steve Alten's 'Meg' novel 'The Trench,' the film initially finds Jonas onboard a vessel illegally dumping waste in the ocean, cutting his way out of a shipping container.

He's rumbled by the crew but Jonas responds as any environmental warrior might, he beats up anyone who attacks him with slick Kung Fu moves.

Luckily his best mates, Wu Jing's Jiuming Ziang, Cliff Curtis' Mac and Melissanti Mahut's Rigas are able to fly by and scoop him up to safety in their plane.

Jonas, Jiuming and Mac's main focus, though, is an exploration of the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench where a Megalodon shark was discovered in the previous film, with more suspected of breaking free.

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Following the death of his oceanographer sister Suyin, who featured in the first film, Jiuming has taken over the mission.

Suyin and Jonas had a teenage daughter, Shuya Sophia Cai's Meiying who hangs around the Mana One mission funded by Sienna Guillory's billionaire Hillary Driscoll. 

With Mac, Page Kennedy's engineer DJ and Skyler Samuels' Jess observing above water from base, Jiuming, Jonas, Rigas and other divers head on hi-tech submarines to the trench, only to discover Meiying has sneaked onboard.

While travelling underwater, they also discover something fishy is going on with another vessel scouring the trench.

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Sergio Peres-Mencheta's Montes, an old enemy of Jonas', is onboard and his actions place them in grave danger from three megalodon sharks.

Stalled in their subs on the ocean bed, Jonas, Meiying, Rigas, Jiuming and the divers are devastated to learn someone on the mission must be working with the other vessel and has sabotaged the rescue sub.

This means they will have to undertake a treacherous walk through the trench to possible safety, hoping they won't become fish food.

Will they get out alive?

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Who is working with Montes?

And will the Megs be foolish enough to try and swallow Jonas?

The first thing to say about 'The Meg 2' is it's pure B movie fare.

It's not 'Jaws'. It's not 'The Godfather'. It's not even 'Marvel Avengers Assemble'.

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It's less than two hours of schlock and has no great pretension to be anything else.

Wheatley knows it. The writers know it. The cast knows it. 

And once you accept that, it's mostly a lot of fun.

Wheatley packs the film with nods to other movies from 'Jurassic Park' to 'Star Wars,' 'Alien' to 'The Poseidon Adventure,' 'Deep Blue Sea' to 'Die Hard,' 'Leviathan' to 'Nope' and inevitably 'Jaws'.

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And while it gets off to a slow start, Wheatley somehow manages to gradually reel his audience in with thrilling action and horror sequences.

The trench walk is genuinely tense.

The final third of the film is also gloriously over the top, with the director Wheatley unleashing carnage, like the first movie, on a Pacific Ocean resort amusingly called Fun Island.

It's also packed with corny quips.

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Tonally 'Meg 2: The Trench' feels a bit like the 'Jurassic World' franchise.

There's very little that's original. 

It's all very corporate with a particular eye on the lucrative Chinese market.

And like the 'Jurassic World' films, it goes for spectacle on a grand scale.

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Wheatley, his cinematographer Harris Zambarloukos and the stunts and visual effects teams deliver action sequences that really work.

And while it doesn't quite outgun 'Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,' its efficient running time puts all the bagginess and the tedium of 'Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny's action sequences to shame.

As for the cast, they have a blast with their B movie plot just like their counterparts in 'Cocaine Bear' earlier this year.

Statham snarls and grimaces his way through it.

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Jing, Cai, Curtis, Mahut, Kennedy, Samuels Guillory and Peres-Mencheta also nod and wink their way through a ridiculous plot.

This time Statham even gets to kick a megalodon.

What's the odds on him headbutting one in the next 'Meg' movie?

('Meg 2: The Trench' opened in UK and Irish cinemas on August 4, 2023)